LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


v>>.  > 


THE 


SONS   OF    THE    SIRES; 

A 

HISTORY  OF  THE  RISE,  PROGRESS,  AND  DESTINY 


gmmcait 

AND   ITS   PROBABLE    INFLUENCE   ON   THE   NEXT 
PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION. 

TO   WHICH   IS    ADDED   A   REVIEW   OF 

THE  LETTER  OF  THE  HON.  HENRY  A.  WISE, 

AGAINST   THE 

KNOW-NOTHINGS. 

BY  AN  AMERICAN. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

LIPPINCOTT,  GRAMBO  &  CO. 

1855. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1855,  by 
LIPPINCOTT,    GRAMBO   &  CO., 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States 
for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  AMERICAN  PARTY PAGE      9 

CHAPTER  II. 
CAUSES  OP  ITS  ORIGIN 23 

CHAPTER  in. 

PRINCIPLES    STATED,    ILLUSTRATED,    AND    EN- 
FORCED     40 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  OBJECTS  WHICH  THIS  ORGANIZATION  AIMS 
TO  ACCOMPLISH 63 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE   NECESSITY   OP   SUCH  AN    ORGANIZATION 
EXAMINED 81 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  EXIGENCIES  OF  THE  TIMES  DEMAND  AN 

AMERICAN  PARTY 97 

vii 


Vlll  .  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  TRUE  POSITION  OF  THE  PARTY  .........  PAGE  112 


CHAPTER 

THE  RAPID  PROGRESS  AND  WIDE  EXTENT  OP 
ITS  INFLUENCE  AN  ARGUMENT  FOR  THE  EX- 
CELLENCE OF  THE  AMERICAN  PARTY  ............  137 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  PLAN  OF  OPERATION  ADOPTED  BY  THE 
AMERICAN  PARTY  ....................................  148 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  PROBABLE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
PARTY  ON  THE  NEXT  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  160 


A  REPLY 
To  THE  LETTER  OF  THE  HON.  HENRY  A.  WISE 

AGAINST  THE  KNOW-NOTHINGS 183 


THE 

SONS  OF  THE  SIEES 

/\*^\/^/WX^\/\  -WtSWl/V/VV/X^N/NSWN^SV 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  AMERICAN  PARTY. 

AMONG  the  clashing  schemes  and  conflicting 
interests  which  have  agitated  our  social  system 
to  its  profoundest  depths,  a  fact  of  startling  im- 
port has  recently  been  evolved — a  fact  transcen- 
dently  important  on  account  of  the  scope  of  its 
bearings,  and  momentous  on  account  of  its  form- 
ative influence  upon  the  future  destiny  of  our 
nation.  That  fact  is  the  "Know  Nothing" 
organization. 

Like  a  clap  of  thunder  from  a  brilliant  sky, 
it  has  waked  up  millions  of  native-born  citizens 
from  their  slumbers,  to  contemplate  the  dangers 
which  threaten  their  altars  and  their  hearths. 
Startled  from  that  repose  of  security  which  a 
conscious  integrity  of  purpose  and  action  inspire, 
they  look  with  horror  upon  the  uncovered  snares 
which  a  stealthy  foreign  hand  has  framed  to 
strangle  the  foster-mother  that  shelters  and  nou- 
rishes those  outcasts  who  fled  to  her  bosom  for 

(9) 


10  THE    AMERICAN    PARTY. 

protection.  "While  the  honest  and  patriotic 
have  been  roused  to  a  true  perception  of  their 
duty,  it  has  also  sent  ominous  tremors  to  the 
hearts  of  truckling  demagogues  and  corrupt 
politicians.  These  tremble  for  their  places,  and 
struggle  to  retain  their  power.  This  organiza- 
tion is  remarkable  for  the  suddenness  of  its 
birth,  and  marvellous  for  its  unparalleled  growth 
and  expansion.  When  this  new  star  loomed 
out  in  our  political  firmament,  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  in  its  full-orbed  brilliancy  to  guide 
our  destinyj,  multitudes  labored  to  obscure  or 
quench  it ;  but  it  laughed  at  their  fruitless  at- 
tempts, and  moved  onward  to  its  day  of  glory ; 
or,  to  change  the  metaphor,  it  was  scarcely  born 
before  Herods  sent  their  murderous  confederates 
to  strangle  it  in  its  cradle.  But  having  no  notion 
to  be  dispatched  so  unceremoniously,  it  had 
grown  to  a  giant,  and  set  out  on  the  march  of 
its  destiny,  before  the  executioners  arrived.  Hav- 
ing eluded  their  grasp  and  escaped  from  the 
knife,  they  labored  to  circumscribe  it  to  some 
isolated  spot,  or  cut  short  its  operations  by 
exiling  it  from  their  favor.  People  were  duly 
warned  against  the  young  monster ;  the  faithful 
were  drilled  to  an  obstinate  resistance  on  its 
first  approach,  and  commanded  to  scout,  to 
curse,  and  to  crush  it.  Yet  notwithstanding  the 
formidable  antagonists  which  it  everywhere  en- 
countered, it  lived  in  the  fire,  and  its  successes 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  11 

were  still  reported,  and  each  recurring  day  chro- 
nicled some  new  victory.  Such  was  the  extent 
of  the  alarm  which  it  created,  that  for  a  season 
our  national  councils  were  partially  deserted,  for 
their  members  had  gone  to  wage  a  crusade 
against  this  formidable  enemy.  If  they  could 
only  catch  it,  they  would  call  a  national  jubilee 
to  its  immolation  ;  but  while  they  looked  for  it 
here,  it  was  yonder,  and  there,  and  everywhere ; 
and  behold,  the  Know  Nothings,  though  not 
known,  sprang  up  thick  and  fast.  Cities  were 
carefully  fortified,  armed  sentinels  guarded  every 
avenue  that  led  to  the  road  of  public  patronage 
and  power ;  but,  as  invisible  as  it  is  potent,  it 
moved  unseen  amid  the  arena  where  aspirants 
for  official  stations  were  contending,  defeating 
the  well-organized  parties,  and  spreading  con- 
sternation among  the  mighty. 

It  is  a  queer  thing,  but  it  is  a  thing  of  life  and 
power.  It  is  invincible,  for  it  has  stood  un- 
blanched  amid  the  hottest  fires;  and  weapons 
that  never  before  failed  in  conquering,  were 
shivered  upon  its  breast,  and  fell  in  broken 
fragments  harmless  at  its  feet.  After  it  survived 
the  keen  blades  of  argument,  shafts  of  ridicule 
and  the  canister  of  executive  displeasure  were 
poured  from  the  great"  guns  with  which  the 
batteries  around  our  Metropolis  are  mounted; 
and  these  were  caught  up,  and  re-shot  by  the 
smaller  calibre;  but  still  it  maintained  its  po- 


12  THE    AMERICAN    PARTY. 

eition,  and  smiled  that  it  should  be  the  harm- 
less occasion  of  firing  up  so  many  brains, 
until  they  glowed  more  fiercely  than  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's furnace.  And  now  the  anathemas  of 
the  Vatican  are  thundering  about  its  head,  and 
the  powers  that  be  will  not  acknowledge  it  as  a 
legitimate  offspring  of  Republicanism ;  but  for 
all  that,  its  shrine  is  sought,  and  offerings  more 
precious  than  India's  gems  or  California's  gold 
are  lavishly  poured  upon  its  altar — the  affections 
of  hearts  true  to  the  great  interests  of  the  country, 
and  the  energies  of  minds  free  from  the  bondage 
and  blight  of  the  papacy.  An  organization  so 
recent  in  its  origin,  yet  so  wide-spread  in  its  in- 
fluence— so  silent  in  its  operations,  yet  so  potent 
in  its  action,  has  drawn  upon  its  movements  not 
only  the  eyes  of  this  nation,  but  also  of  that 
foreign  despotism  which  had  already  laid  the 
foundation  deep  in  the  structure  of  our  govern- 
ment, whereon  it  hoped  to  rebuild  its  falling 
throne  —  an  organization  so  commanding  in 
importance  to  others,  deserves  our  study  and 
demands  a  record  of  its  history. 

A  nation  may  be  born  in  a  day !  The  thun- 
ders of  an  hour  may  rock  it  into  a  heap  of 
ruins !  To  guard  their  national  existence  during 
its  infancy,  was  not  the  whole  duty  of  the  Ame- 
rican people ;  but  to  have  walls  of  true  hearts, 
beating  around  it  through  all  its  progress  to- 
wards its  high  destiny.  Despotism  exists  so  long 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  13 

as  the  iron  heel  can  keep  under  its  quivering 
and  bleeding  hearts ;  but  wo  to  the  tyrants,  when 
crushed  humanity  begins  to  pulsate  with  aspira- 
tions for  freedom.  He  knows,  and  therefore 
fears,  that  the  throne  of  the  oppressor  reposes  on 
an  explosive  mine,  which  needs  but  the  match 
to  shiver  the  most  powerful  despotism  to  atoms. 
Happily  for  all,  our  government  requires  none 
but  bloodless  revolutions.  It  carries  within  its 
bosom  the  elements  of  its  own  permanency. 
These  elements  are  endued  with  the  requisite 
power  to  correct  any  irregular  tendencies  to 
which  the  body  politic  may  be  liable.  Every 
system  which  aims  at  stability  and  hopes  to  be 
crowned  with  perpetuity,  must  have  incorporated 
this  corrective  means.  With  us,  not  the  one, 
nor  the  few,  but  the  many,  are  the  individuals 
in  whom  the  governing  power  resides.  The 
people  are  the  elements  of  permanency  in  our 
political  system;  and  when  any  irregularities 
occur,  or  any  manifest  departures,  by  those 
whom  they  have  elevated  to  official  stations, 
from  the  principles  of  our  constitution,  are  seen, 
they  must  correct  them ;  they  are  the  sovereigns, 
and  it  is  their  prerogative  to  guide  the  interests 
of  the  nation. 

The  American  party  had  its  origin,  therefore, 
not  as  its  opponents  affirm,  in  defective  views 
of  our  government;  nor  is  it  the  child  of  dis- 
appointed politicians,  nor  of  the  spirit  of  in- 
2 


14  THE    AMERICAN    PARTY. 

tolerance ;  but  it  is  the  offspring  of  those  self- 
adjusting  principles,  and  those  elements  of  per- 
manency found  in  our  civil  structure;  or,  in 
other  words,  it  is  the  child  of  the  people.  It  is 
not  a  bastard  republican,  but  a  born  sovereign — 
a  prince  of  freedom ;  an  heir  legitimate,  rapidly 
passing  to  his  maturity,  who  will  present  him- 
self on  the  4th  of  March,  1857,  at  the  Capitol 
of  Washington,  to  assert  his  prerogatives  to  the 
Chair  of  State,  and  his  right  to  rule  the  nation 
of  freemen  who  have  given  him  existence.  He 
is  now  a  youth  of  rare  capacities  and  of  glorious 
promise ;  so  attractive,  that  his  personal  charms 
daily  captivate  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  hearts.  He  is  possessed  of  such  attributes,  that 
men  everywhere  confide  to  him  their  dearest 
interests  —  such  gentleness,  that  the  most  timid 
venture  under  his  protection;  and  exhibiting 
such  energy,  that  those  trembling  under  the 
feebleness  of  age  lean  upon  his  arm  for  support. 
If  I  were  to  draw  a  portrait  of  this  youth,  and 
analyze  the  properties  of  his  character,  I  might 
commence  by  saying  that  he  is  very  much  in 
appearance  like  the  pictures  of  the  manly  Wash- 
ington ;  i.  e.  assuming  that  which  no  one  doubts, 
that  the  spirit  of  man  externalizes  itself  in  the 
person  of  the  man.  He  is  unassuming,  yet . 
great ;  with  an  eye  calm  as  the  ocean  in  repose, 
but  penetrating  as  a  sunbeam,  while  it  gleams 
•with  an  energy  more  powerful  than  the  earth- 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  15 

quake.  With  a  brow  of  towering  majesty, 
where  thought  and  hope  repose  in  communion, 
and  in  which  the  destiny  of  an  injured  nation 
resides,  clothing  the  countenance  with  an  air  of 
that  sublime  self-reliance,  which  conscious  wis- 
dom and  strength  inspire. 

The  first  time  I  saw  him  was  in  the  city  of 
Brotherly  Love.  It  was  on  the  evening  preceding 
the  first  great  election  of  the  consolidated  city. 
It  was  one  of  those  charming  nights  when  the 
voices  of  nature  appeal  to  the  human  spirit,  to 
draw  it  forth  from  the  busy  throng,  to  those  se- 
clusions where  man  may  commune  with  his 
thoughts,  and  those  invisible  powers  that  move 
around  him.  On  such  a  night  I  strolled  into 
Independence  square,  musing  upon  the  exciting 
scenes  I  had  witnessed  during  the  fortnight  I 
had  tarried  in  that  beautiful  and  busy  city.  In 
my  rambles,  I  had  carefully  observed  the  various 
places  of  note.  One  thing  struck  me  as  singu- 
lar, shortly  after  I  had  set  out  on  this  exploring 
tour,  and  that  was,  that  nearly  all  the  officials 
were  of  foreign  birth.  In  the  custom-house 
and  in  the  city  government,  and  indeed  in 
nearly  all  places  of  trust  and  profit,  were  per- 
sonages, whose  brogue  betrayed  their  nativity. 
I  wondered  how  it  could  happen,  that  in  a 
crowded  city,  where  so  many  sober,  honest  and 
industrious  native-born  citizens  were  toiling  in 
the  shop,  and  from  the  cellar  to  the  garret,  that 


16  THE    AMERICAN    PARTY. 

none  of  these  sons  of  the  soil  could  be  trusted 
with  the  keeping  of  the  peace  and  safety  of  the 
city.  As  I  entered  the  beautiful  enclosure,  preg- 
nant with  so  many  stirring  memories,  and  hal- 
lowed by  the  most  sacred  associations,  the  old 
clock  pealed  out  the  hour  of  ten.  From  the 
same  point  issued,  seventy-eight  years  ago, 
those  notes  of  liberty  which  swept  on  angel 
wings  over  this  land  —  from  that  sacred  place 
the  proclamation  went  forth,  that  no  foreign 
despot  should  oppress  Americans.  It  seemed 
as  though  there  were  something  mournful 
in  those  vibrations  which  announced  the 
hour ;  and  I  almost  imagined  that  the  faithful 
chronicler  of  time  was  conscious  that  true  pa- 
triotism had  sadly  declined  —  as  if  it  knew  the 
powerful  sway  which  a  despot  beyond  the  ocean 
had  acquired  over  this  nation.  This  impres- 
sion had  previously  forced  itself  upon  my 
mind ;  and,  however  unwelcome,  will  establish 
itself  in  the  mind  of  even  the  most  careless  ob- 
server of  that  which  daily  transpires  around 
him.  For  what,  does  he  behold  ?  At  our  poli- 
tical gatherings  every  foreigner  is  pressed  into 
service  to  promote  the  interests  of  that  party 
which  has  been  most  lavish  in  its  promises  of 
reward.  Not  only  are  the  huzzas  at  our  hust- 
ings foreign,  but  the  polls  have  frequently  been 
under  the  special  charge  of  drunken  aliens,  with 
no  other  object  than  to  exclude  all  citizens  whose 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  17 

nerves  are  inadequate,  and  whose  character  for- 
bids their  participation  in  a  row.  The  intrigue 
and  rowdyism  which  have  characterized  almost 
every  recent  campaign,  have  been  gotten  up  by 
foreigners;  and  to  look  at  them,  a  stranger 
would  suppose  that  they  are  the  sons  of  the  soil, 
and  enjoyed  all  the  prerogatives  to  let  or  hinder 
others  in  the  exercise  of  their  rights.  I  had 
scrutinized  these  public  movements,  looked  into 
the  secret  conclaves  where  high  officials  were 
bidding,  and  prelates  were  selling,  the  suffrages 
of  their  spiritual  subjects  to  the  highest  bidder. 
I  had  also  looked  into  the  cabinet,  and  saw  the 
gifted  and  competent  American  thrust  from  a 
high  position,  to  make  room  for  one  who  would 
conciliate  and  command  the  foreign  element. 
It  was,  while  musing  on  this  state  of  things,  and 
meditating  on  that  cunningly  devised  and  wide- 
spread net-work  of  Jesuitism,  the  deep  corrup- 
tion which  exists  among  politicians,  and  the 
base  prostitution  of  power  and  influence  on  the 
part  of  those  who  fill  the  high  places  of  our 
republic ;  to  this  masked  enemy  of  freedom,  that 
I  involuntarily  exclaimed,  Shade  of  Washing- 
ton !  whither  will  all  this  tend  ?  I  was  in  that 
particular  frame  of  mind  when  our  thoughts 
become  a  burden,  and  the  anxieties  of  the  heart 
cause  us  to  long  for  a  companion  to  share  our 
solicitudes,  when  there  stood  in  my  path  a  per- 
sonage of  commanding  appearance,  and  thus 
2*  . 


18  THE    AMERICAN    PARTY. 

addressed  me:  —  "Sir,  you  seem  troubled  —  a 
weighty  care  has  cast  its  dark  shadow  upon  your 
brow  —  can  you  trust  to  another  a  knowledge 
of  the  secret  which  disquiets  your  spirit?"  Ex- 
cellent sir,  said  I,  for  your  language  and  ap- 
pearance do  not  deceive  me,  I  was  pondering 
the  strange  condition  of  things  among  us.  I 
have  passed  through  this  city,  and  travelled  ex- 
tensively through  this  land  —  I  have  watched 
those  popular  movements  which  now  and  then 
disturb  society  —  I  have  traced  the  actions  of 
public  men  to  their  hidden  sources,  and  have 
discovered  that  those  whom  I  followed,  whom  I 
trusted  and  believed  to  be  the  noblest  patriots, 
are  heartless  and  selfish,  and  labor  for  personal 
exaltation,  rather  than  for  the  advancement  of 
our  country's  interests.  I  have  studied  the 
springs  which  keep  the  political  machinery  in 
motion,  and  vainly  tried  to  solve  the  problem 
why  millions  of  freemen  suffer  themselves  to  be 
controlled  in  the  choice  of  their  rulers,  by  a  su- 
perstitious and  tyrannical  power  —  a  power  be- 
tween whose  seat  and  us  the  ocean  rolls,  but  a 
system  so  cunningly  devised,  that  the  pulsations 
of  its  authority  are  as  distinctly  felt  at  Wash- 
ington as  at  Rome.  A  power  which  fills  almost 
every  office  with  its  menials,  that  controls  our 
state  and  national  legislation  —  makes  our  go- 
vernors, elects  our  presidents,  and  constructs 
our  cabinets — a  power  courted,  feared,  and  flat- 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  19 

tered  by  all  who  aspire  to  honorable  and  influ- 
ential positions;  and  I  wondered  whither  all 
this  tends.  Are  we  to  realize  the  predictions 
of  despotic  powers,  and  prove  by  our  overthrow 
and  the  prostration  of  our  liberties  and  hopes, 
that  man  is  not  capable  of  self-government? 
Are  we  to  witness  the  abhorrent  thing  —  a  des- 
potism born  from  a  Republic  ?  Shall  we  see  a 
many-headed  monster  springing  from  the  womb 
of  the  virgin  of  Liberty?  "Sir,"  said  my  in- 
terrogator, "these  are  neither  strange  nor  sin- 
gular thoughts  which  have  disturbed  your  peace 
—  they  are  feelings  evoked  by  the  genius  of 
liberty  that  attends  the  meditations  of  true  pa- 
triots —  apprehensions  which  had  a  home  in  the 
mind  of  Washington,  when  he  said  to  his  staff, 
"Put  none  but  Americans  on  guard  to-night." 
Emotions  that  agitated  his  great  heart,  while  its 
holy  pathos  and  earnest  yearnings  flowed  from 
its  profound  depths  into  that  Farewell  Address, 
in  which  he  so  affectionately  warns  the  Ameri- 
can people  against  foreign  intrigue  and  alliance. 
They  are  not  singular  nor  isolated  thoughts,  but 
such  as  were  present  to  the  meditations  of  the 
ablest  statesmen  of  the  past,  and  such  as  now 
disturb  the  heart  of  our  glorious  confederacy. 
These  questions  have  been  asked  and  answered, 
and  invested  with  that  power  derived  from  those 
whose  right  it  is  to  bestow  it,  I  am  now  on  my 
mission  to  restore  America  to  Americans.  I  am 


20  THE    AMERICAN    PAETY. 

instructed  to  break  the  coils  of  that  serpent  which 
infolds  the  public  body,  and  whose  fearful  pres- 
sures already  cause  the  national  heart  to  quiver 
and  palpitate  with  alarm.  I  will  sever  the  mon- 
ster's folds  before  his  poison  impregnates  and 
darkens  with  death  the  fountains  of  liberty.  I 
have  already  achieved  victories,  and  to-morrow 
I  shall  triumph  here.  I  will  carry  new  energy 
from  this  field,  and  will,  ere  long,  complete  the 
conquest  of  the  land,  and  restore  to  the  sons  of 
the  sires  who  consecrated  this  soil  by  their  blood, 
the  dearly  purchased  inheritance  of  their  fathers." 
Who  are  you  then,  I  asked,  that  you  utter  such 
purposes,  and  speak  with  such  confidence,  even 
in  a  cause  whose  justice  I  acknowledge  ?  "  My 
name,  though  honourable,  must  not  now  be  re- 
vealed. I  am  hated  by  those  who  have  corrupted 
the  land  —  persecuted  by  those  who,  in  their 
infatuation  for  honorable  distinction  and  self- 
aggrandizement,  have  allowed  themselves  to  be 
duped  and  blinded  by  a  foreign  foe  that  now 
digs  a  chasm  about  the  throne  of  freedom.  I 
am  cursed  from  the  seats  of  power — hunted  and 
hated  —  anathematized  in  the  palaces  of  the 
great,  and  defamed  in  the  dens  of  the  vile — but 
I  am  approved  by  the  man  of  honest  toil,  hailed 
as  a  deliverer  by  him  who  would  have  his  acres 
protected  against  foreign  rule,  by  the  intelligent 
and  order-loving  —  by  patriots  and  Christians. 
For  although  they  "know  me  not,"  they  know 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  21 

that  I  am  their  friend,  and  have  come  to  their 
help.  They  understand  that  my  mission  is  to 
purify  and  strengthen ;  to  build  up  and  fortify 
our  noble  institutions,  that  unborn  millions  may 
rejoice  over  them  as  the  impregnable  refuges  of 
freedom.  They  know  that  it  is  my  high  com- 
mission to  keep  clear  from  corruption,  those 
channels  through  which  the  life  of  this  nation 
flows,  and  to  aid  the  brave  and  the  good  to  per- 
petuate our  glorious  Union.  I  am  slandered  and 
calumniated,  but  that  harms  me  not.  They  say 
that  I  was  born  in  the  night,  and  speak  it  to  my 
reproach ;  but  the  learned  Greeks  declared  the 
midnight  hour  the  hour  of  golden  thought. 
Chosen  sometimes  by  the  wicked  for  deeds  of 
evil,  but  to  the  good  it  yieldeth  jewels.  But  I 
am  not  just  born  —  long  have  I  kept  my  vigils 
over  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the 
brave.  I  sat  by  "Washington  in  his  deep  medi- 
tations ;  I  lodged  with  him  by  the  camp-fire,  and 
bowed  by  his  side  under  the  spangled  canopy 
of  heaven,  when  he  prayed  for  Divine  succor  in 
the  day  of  peril.  I  was  closeted  with  Jefferson 
and  Madison,  and  was  the  companion  of  that 
noble  band  whose  motto  was — "  Give  us  liberty, 
or  give  us  death."  I  was  born,  not  amid 
scenes  of  revelry  or  darkness,  but  in  the  quiet 
beauty  of  that  hour  when  good  spirits  bring 
messages  to  mortals  from  the  world  of  light  and 
love.  Then  —  and  amid  the  blending  glory  of 


22  THE    AMERICAN    PARTY. 

heaven  and  earth,  I  was  born  and  commissioned 
for  my  exalted  destiny.  But  go  now,  for  a  great 
conflict  is  waging  between  thy  brethren  and 
aliens,  and  demands  thy  energy ;  but  mark  as 
thou  goest,  that  those  great  prerogatives  of  the 
Magna  Charta,  "Life,  Liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  Happiness"  are  jewels  whose  keeping  must 
not  be  confided  to  those  who  are  the  slaves  of  a 
despot.  He  vanished,  and  my  cares  had  taken 
wing,  and  as  I  looked  into  the  silent  glory  of 
the  starry  firmament,  it  seemed  as  though  the 
spirits  of  the  fathers  of  Liberty  and  founders 
of  our  institutions,  smiled  approvingly  on  the 
utterances  of  my  unknown  companion,  and  hope 
kindled  afresh  in  my  heart,  that  the  stars  upon 
our  glorious  banner  would  not  only  retain  their 
position  and  lustre,  but  that  they  would  yet  shed 
their  radiance  over  the  earth's  wide  circle,  and 
wake  its  oppressed  millions  to  a  grand  universal 
jubilee  of  freedom. 


CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN.  23 


CHAPTER  II. 

CAUSES   OP  ITS  ORIGIN. 

WHEN  we  behold  a  great  popular  movement 
carrying  society  in  a  certain  direction,  sundering 
the  ties  of  party,  and,  like  the  resistless  torrent, 
rolling  its  weight  of  waters  onward,  and  sweep- 
ing away  from  their  deep  foundations  rocky 
barriers  which  vainly  oppose  its  progress,  we 
instinctively  ask,  Whence  has  it  come  ?  Whither 
does  it  go  ?  How  has  it  originated  ?  And  what 
are  its  elements  of  power  ?  A  great  variety  of 
causes,  primary  and  secondary,  remote  and  proxi- 
mate, might  be  offered  as  operative  in  creating 
this  popular  movement.  Here  opinions  and 
sentiments  circulate  and  conflict,  as  freely  and 
as  violently  as  the  elements  of  nature;  and 
while  free  discussion  is  viewed  with  dread  by 
the  despot,  and  the  agitation  of  great  political 
questions  is  ominous  only  of  evil  to  crowned 
heads,  in  our  system,  where  there  are  self-adjust- 
ing principles,  we  behold  this  conflict  of  opinion 
as  a  means  of  healthful  prosperit}^.  As  the 
agitations  of  the  sea  and  air,  and  the  commotion 
in  the  organism  of  nature,  are  productive  of 


24  CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN. 

ultimate  good  results,  thus  also  in  a  form  of 
government  like  ours  we  anticipate  no  evil  from 
a  war  of  principles.  In  this  land,  where  the 
freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  is  enjoyed  in 
the  most  extended  amplitude,  intellectual  war- 
fare constitutes  no  unusual  phenomena.  As 
common  as  they  are  spirited,  they  cease  to  occa- 
sion surprise.  But  when  such  an  amazing  result 
is  witnessed  as  the  product  of  this  freedom, 
which  we  have  in  the  existence  of  the  Know- 
Nothing  organization,  an  inquiry  into  the  causes 
which  have  produced  it,  is  eminently  rational. 
It  is  worthy  of  our  regard — it  demands  our  at- 
tention, for  it  can  neither  be  scouted  nor  laughed 
out  of  existence.  It  is  an  order  possessing  those 
attributes  which  challenge  the  high  regard  of  all 
men.  Its  numerical  strength,  considering  its 
recent  appearance,  is  without  a  precedent.  It 
has  spread  with  astonishing  rapidity,  and  num- 
bers among  its  members  men  from  all  profes- 
sions and  pursuits,  and  these,  for  the  most  part, 
our  best  citizens ; — highly  respectable,  whether 
we  consider  the  intellectual  or  moral  character 
of  its  adherents.  And  so  far  as  the  organization 
has  had  opportunity  to  unfold  itself  to  the  public 
eye,  its  deportment  has  been  such  as  to  commend 
itself  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  good 
citizens. 

From  the  character  it  presents  to  our  scrutiny, 
it  is  no  unreasonable  assumption,  that  the  emer- 


CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN.  25 

gency  which  called  it  into  being  was  one  deeply- 
felt  in  the  bosom  of  society,  and  one  which  called 
into  play  the  higher  impulses  of  humanity.  The 
nature  of  that  emergency  will  be  fully  unfolded 
as  we  progress  in  these  pages,  and  for  the  pre- 
sent therefore  only  a  few  of  the  causes  which 
contributed  to  call  it  into  being  will  be  touched 
upon. 

One  of  the  remote  causes,  and  which  has  been 
operative  for  many  years  and  has  at  last  materi- 
ally contributed  to  bring  into  existence  the 
American  party,  is  to  be  sought,  in  the  frequent 
assaults  upon  Protestantism.  He  who  has  care- 
fully watched  the  workings  in  the  social  system, 
must  know  that  for  a  number  of  years  there  have 
been  systematic,  but  in  many  instances  veiled 
efforts  made,  to  create  a  train  of  influences  which 
might  gradually  weaken  and  ultimately  destroy 
the  Protestant  element  in  our  country.  This 
could  only  be  accomplished  by  a  variety  of 
means,  and  these  used  clandestinely.  Our  nation 
being  a  complete  amalgam  of  the  leading  nations 
of  the  earth,  the  Jesuitical  maxim,  "  divide  and 
conquer,"  could  play  with  more  hope  of  success 
than  where  such  circumstances  did  not  favor. 
One  great  object  was  therefore  to  adopt  such  a 
line  of  policy  as  to  create  of  the  Catholics,  an 
"  imperium  in  imperio,"  and  to  sow  as  much  dis- 
sension as  possible  among  the  remainder  of  the 
citizens.  To  accomplish  the  end  aimed  at,  they 
3 


26  CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN. 

must,  as  far  as  possible,  prevent  the  fusion  of 
these  different  representatives  into  a  bona  fide 
American  character;  and  therefore  they  tried  to 
raise  new  issues  without  end,  in  order  to  preserve 
distinct  nationalities  among  us. 

This  was  not  difficult,  among  a  people  made 
up  of  a  number  of  races  and  so  many  nations,  for 
there  were  necessarily  found  among  us  opposing 
elements  and  conflicting  opinions.  Just  so  far 
as  they  could  succeed  in  this,  they  would  make 
room  for  their  own  growth,  and  hope  to  weaken 
the  Protestant  element  by  dividing  its  adherents 
into  hostile  parties.  But  they  were  not  satisfied 
with  this,  they  exerted  their  influence  upon  the 
action  of  our  civil  institutions,  and  had,  to  some 
extent,  succeeded  in  causing  the  political  economy 
of  the  nation  to  swallow  up  its  theology.  This 
would  necessarily  be  a  slow  process,  for  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Puritans,  of  Luther,  of  Qalvin, 
and  Penn.  could  not  readily  be  induced  to  lay 
aside  their  old-fashioned  ideas  of  morality  and 
government. 

First  the  cry  was  everywhere  raised  that  this 
is  a  free  country,  that  we  must  tolerate  error  as 
well  as  truth,  and  when  they  had  as  they  thought 
prepared  the  public  mind  for  it,  they  made  the 
first  bold  attempt  to  strike  from  our  political 
firmament  its  sun,  by  an  advocacy  of  the  banish- 
ment of  the  Bible  from  the  public  schools.  The 
opinion  of  our  strait-notioned  fathers,  and 


CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN.  27 

that  of  some  of  their  children,  though  not  claim- 
ing their  sterling  virtues,  that  the  Bible  was  the 
best  book  to  expand  the  human  mind,  to  culti- 
vate the  heart,  and  to  form  a  character  of  solid 
virtues,  was  controverted.  It  was  asserted  in 
the  presence  of  a  nation  of  purer  statesmen,  and 
nobler  philanthropists,  than  any  other  can  boast, 
and  in  the  face  of  a  most  thriving  and  virtuous 
population,  and  in  defiance  of  these  monuments 
of  the  worth  of  bible-influence  on  the  mind  of 
youth,  the  vain  philosophy  of  the  age,  nay 
rather  Jesuitism  in  disguise,  dared  to  affirm  that 
the  Bible  was  not  adapted  to  the  purposes  to 
which  it  had  been  so  long  and  so  successfully 
applied.  There  were  appeals  addressed  to  Pro- 
testants that  they  must  be  tolerant,  that  they 
must  respect  the  scruples  of  Catholics,  and  ac- 
commodate the  school  system  to  suit  the  views 
of  all,  even  three  or  half-a-dozen  in  a  commu- 
nity of  thousands.  And  these  kind  souls  in  the 
abundance  of  their  liberality,  or  in  compliance 
with  the  suggestions  of  an  easy  virtue,  but  with 
politicians  from  a  desire  to  conciliate  the  favor 
of  the  Jesuits,  after  a  little  show  of  resistance 
yielded  the  point,  and  God's  word  was  banished 
from  our  schools.  And  now  in  these  intellectual 
laboratories,  where  the  future  citizens  and  rulers 
are  to  be  fashioned,  they  have  in  many  instances 
no  book  whose  influence  alone  is  adequate  to 
the  formation  of  a  virtuous  citizen  or  an  upright 
and  wise  statesman. 


28  CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN. 

I  regard,  therefore,  as  among  the  most  promi- 
nent causes  of  the  origin  of  the  Know-Nothings, 
the  encroachments  of  foreigners  on  the  sacred 
rights  of  American  citizens.  Our  government 
was  established  to  meet  the  wants,  and  secure 
the  happiness  of  the  largest  possible  number  of 
its  subjects.  While  it  repudiated  the  intolerance 
of  despotisms,  it  granted  the  amplest  liberty 
compatible  with  the  peace  and  safety  of  the 
state  to  its  citizens,  native  and  adopted.  The 
Roman  Catholic  power,  accustomed  to  rule  both 
Church  and  State,  and  animated  with  that  arro- 
gant spirit  which  exalts  itself  above  all  other 
institutions,  both  human  and  divine,  could  not 
fraternize  with  other  subjects,  nor  be  long  con- 
tented with  an  equality  of  privileges,  but  aimed 
at  the  supremacy  not  simply  in  the  religious  in- 
stitutions and  educational  machinery  of  the  land ; 
but  also  labored  for  the  possession  of  civil 
supremacy.  Short  of  the  highest  pinnacle  to 
which  it  could  ascend,  i.  e.,  of  absolute  and  un- 
limited power,  it  could  never  rest  in  peace. 

Whatever  be  the  space  of  time  through  which 
its  plans  reach,  or  however  Herculean  the  efforts 
necessary  to  compass  its  ends,  it  rests  not,  flags 
not,  in  its  pursuit  of  the  coveted  good.  To 
mature  their  schemes  they  wrought  silently,  yet 
effectually,  in  the  pulpit,  in  the  seminary  of 
learning,  in  the  confessional,  but  much  more  in 
the  political  caucus,  and  at  the  polls.  Their 


CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN.  29 

operations  were  conducted  under  the  guise  of  a 
mock  humility,  and  their  purposes  so  adroitly 
concealed,  that  few  believed  that  their  vast 
machinery  had  been  planned  and  kept  in  motion 
with  a  view  to  the  attainment  of  power.  If  a 
note  of  alarm  was  occasionally  sounded,  the 
secular  press  with  a  unanimity  that  indicated  the 
strong  anxiety  of  both  political  parties  to  pro- 
pitiate the  papal  influence,  denounced  those  who 
uttered  their  apprehensions  concerning  the  ulte- 
rior designs  of  Rome. 

The  American  people  born  with  the  most 
generous  impulses,  and  instinct  with  the  princi- 
ples of  toleration,  measuring  others  by  the  dis- 
positions and  integrity  of  their  own  hearts,  were 
slow  to  believe  that  any  class  of  men  either  in 
their  individual  or  united  capacity,  could  be 
laboring  for  the  attainment  of  such  power  as 
would  enable  them  to  annul  the  charter  of  our 
rights,  and  substitute  for  our  noble  Constitution, 
the  arbitrary  and  bloody  code  of  the  Inquisition. 
Partially  through  ignorance  of  the  dark  history 
of  Papacy,  but  much  more  because  of  their 
implicit  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  integrity 
of  party  leaders,  they  gave  their  support  to 
Jesuitical  aspirants  to  office,  which  showed  their 
unlimited  confidence  in  those  who  professed  the 
most  ardent  love  for  those  institutions  which 
their  creed  would  bid  them  curse.  The  success 
of  Catholics  was  as  marked,  as  their  progress 
3* 


30  CAUSES    OP    ITS    ORIGIN. 

was  rapid.  In  many  places  they  held  the  balance 
of  power,  and  it  was  the  too  free  exercise  of 
this  power,  and  their  growing  demands  for 
favors,  that  first  awakened  suspicion  in  the 
minds  of  the  reflecting,  and  which  finally  resulted 
in  serious  apprehensions  of  this  dangerous  class. 
Had  Catholics,  like  other  citizens,  fallen  into  the 
ranks  of  the  two  great  parties,  and  exercised  the 
right  of  suffrage  as  individuals,  without  respect 
to  the  religious  associations,  or  tendencies  of  the 
candidate,  the  "Know-Nothings"  would  never 
have  sprung  into  existence.  But  it  became 
manifest  to  Americans  that  the  Bishops  and 
Archbishops  held  absolute  control  over  the  minds 
of  their  spiritual  subjects ;  and  by  this  combina- 
tion, this  distinct  politico-religious  organization  of 
a  large  body  of  men,  this  "  imperium  in  imperio," 
which  is  now  falsely  charged  upon  the  American 
party,  ready  to  cast  their  votes  in  that  direction 
which  would  most  effectually  tend  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  their  Church ;  it  was  this  which 
created  the  emergency  that  demanded  a  rising 
of  the  people  against  these  encroachments  upon 
our  peace  and  safety.  The  Archbishop  of  New 
York  seems  to  have  been  the  very  soul  of  this 
movement.  Emboldened  by  his  successes,  and 
calculating  too  strongly  upon  the  sympathy 
which  he  found  among  politicians,  he  quickened 
his  march  towards  power.  His  encroachments 
upon  cherished  American  interests  which  he 


CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN.  31 

would  blight  with  his  vandal  hand,  were  in  such 
quick  succession,  as  to  occasion  alarm.  As  their 
policy  was  gradually  unfolded,  it  unveiled  the 
atrocious  purposes  which  had  been  so  long  con- 
cealed from  public  scrutiny,  until  he  formally 
announced  in  his  Chapter  of  Catholic  history, 
that  republicanism  was  incompatible  with  the 
interests  of  the  Church.  Feeling  himself  strongly 
entrenched  in  the  affections  of  his  people,  and 
overrating  his  influence  over  the  American  mind, 
he  dared  to  vindicate  the  government  of  Tuscany 
in  its  oppressions  of  a  hapless  family,  for  no 
other  crime  than  that  of  reading  the  scriptures. 
He  denounced  the  thousands  who  had  assembled 
to  give  expression  to  their  sympathy  for  the  un- 
fortunate Madiai.  And  as  if  determined  with 
one  effort  to  silence  Americans,  and  to  cause 
them,  nolens  volens,  to  yield  submission  to  Papal 
dictation,  he  ventures  on  a  reply  to  the  great 
speech  of  Senator  Cass,  on  religious  toleration, 
attempting  to  convince  the  people  that  freedom 
is  an  inalienable  and  inviolable  right  of  con- 
science, and  that  however  the  body  may  be  tor- 
tured, it  retires  to  its  impregnable  fortress  and 
defies  all  the  horrid  implements  of  torture  which 
Eome  knows  so  well  how  to  apply.  The  Ameri- 
can people  rightly  judged  that  if  such  were  the 
views  of  religious  toleration  which  Rome  pro- 
mulgates and  maintains,  we  had  better  keep  her 
within  such  limits,  as  to  prevent  her  from  indul- 


32  CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN. 

ging  us  with  such  religious  freedom.  Followed 
up  by  Brownson's  expositions  of  the  Divine  right 
of  the  Church  to  dictate  law  and  to  rule  rulers, 
they  showed  too  clearly  what  might  be  expected 
when  these  modest  gentlemen  attained  the  end 
of  their  wishes.  Then,  too,  the  "  Shepherd  of 
the  Valley,"  published  under  the  auspices  of  an- 
other Bishop,  stoutly  maintained  the  right  of  the 
Church  to  burn  heretics,  and  vindicated  the 
horrible  slaughters  by  which  Rome  crimsoned 
the  soil  of  every  land  where  she  exercised  undis- 
puted authority.  This  same  monster,  or  spirit 
from  the  dark  ages,  denounced  our  educational 
systems,  denied  the  right  of  laymen  to  read  the 
Bible,  and  boldly  affirmed  that  the  masses  ought 
not  to  be  educated.  And  all  this  parade  of 
Catholic  abominations  was  designed  probably  to 
prepare  the  way  for  the  Pope's  Nuncio,  who 
doubtless  had  plenary  powers  to  take  possession 
of  President,  government  and  all,  provided  that 
the  work  had  sufficiently  progressed  to  bring  the 
Americans  into  quiet  submission  to  His  Holiness 
Pius  IX.  Or  if  some  few  thousands  might  make 
a  show  of  resistance,  was  not  Bedini,  who  had 
butchered  the  noble  Bassi,  and  whose  hands  were 
yet  crimsoned  with  the  blood  of  those  who  dared 
to  aspire  to  be  free,  the  very  instrument  to  dis- 
pose of  those  misguided  and  refractory  persons 
who  might  still  suppose  that  they  had  a  right  to 
object  to  his  dictation  ? 


CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN.  33 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  which  gave  rise 
to  the  American  party.  Was  there  not  abun- 
dant occasion  to  create  alarm  ?  "Was  it  not  time 
for  the  people  to  rise  in  their  majesty,  and  with- 
stand these  enemies  of  our  rights?  Is  it  not 
just,  is  it  not  a  duty  imposed  hy  heaven,  seconded 
by  conscience,  and  impressed  by  the  most  hal- 
lowed associations,  to  show  these  usurpers  of 
authority  the  constitutional  limits,  and  say  to 
them,  "hitherto  shall  ye  come,  but  here  shall 
your  proud  waves  be  stayed  ?"  They  had  found 
the  word  of  God  the  most  formidable  obstruction 
in  the  way  of  progress  for  Romanism,  and  there- 
fore their  ingenuity  was  first  taxed  to  displace 
from  the  schools  this  fosterer  of  religious  and 
civil  freedom.  They  would  take  it  from  the 
young — they  would  conduct  the  rising  genera- 
tion from  the  fountain  of  living  waters,  to  broken 
cisterns — from  the  study  of  the  science  of  im- 
mortality and  its  God,  to  the  sickly  legends  of 
pretended  saints.  Their  complaints  of  an  injured 
conscience  because  the  Protestant  Bible  was  read 
in  schools,  had  two  objects  in  view — first  to. 
withdraw  its  influence  from  the  minds  of  the 
young,  for  that  Church  has  always  regarded  the 
scriptures  as  hostile  to  its  interests  and  dangerous 
to  its  existence.  The  priests  fear  nothing  so 
much  as  an  open  Bible ;  for  it  teaches  on  many 
points  the  very  opposite  of  what  that  Church 
teaches. 


34  CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN. 

In  the  Bible  the  soul  is  brought  directly  to  the 
fountain  of  blessing  without  the  intervention  of 
any  human  being,  which  is  adverse  to  the  interests 
of  the  papacy,  because  it  diminishes  its  revenues. 
And  just  in  proportion  as  they  could  bring  the 
reading  of  the  scriptures  into  disuse,  they  would 
aid  in  the  advancement  of  their  principles.  An- 
other object,  however,  was  to  obtain  possession 
of  the  public  funds  to  carry  forward  their  private 
operations.  They  claimed  it  as  a  right,  if  not 
a  constitutional  yet  a  moral  right,  a  portion 
equal  to  the  amount  of  taxation  assessed  upon 
Catholics.  Had  any  efforts  been  made  to  prose- 
lyte their  children,  or  had  they  been  compelled 
to  read  the  Protestant  version  of  the  Bible,  there 
might  have  been  some  cause  of  complaint ;  but 
such  were  not  the  facts.  But  their  exertions  in 
relation  to  this  subject,  may  be  regarded  as  a 
feeler  of  the  public  pulse.  It  may  have  been 
designed  as  the  beginning  of  a  bad  end.  Gould 
they  have  prostrated  the  public  school  system, 
the  noblest  institution  ever  devised  to  form 
American  citizens  out  of  the  different  nations 
represented  among  us, — could  they  have  stormed 
this  fortress  of  our  freedom,  they  might  then 
have  more  readity  carried  their  devastations  to 
the  very  citadel  of  Liberty. 

Of  a  like  character  were  all  the  other  demon- 
strations from  these  modest  dictators.  From  the 
period  when  the  Catholic  chapter  of  American 


CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN.  35 

history  made  its  appearance,  there  commenced  a 
declaration  of  Catholic  prerogatives,  and  an  un- 
folding of  their  tyrannical  system,  that  perfectly 
astounded  all  classes.  It  was  unquestionably 
the  infatuation  of  the  directing  power  that 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  people,  and  changed  the 
current  of  popular  sympathy  into  feelings  of 
distrust.  For  if  according  to  the  showing  of 
this  prelate,  republicanism  and  Romanism  are 
antagonistic  in  their  elements  and  tendencies, 
and  cannot  co-exist  in  the  same  place  in  harmony, 
then  the  apprehensions  of  the  people  were  not 
unfounded,  and  they  acted  judiciously  when  they 
determined  to  dispense  with  the  favor  of  a  power 
that  was  confessedly  hostile  to  our  institutions. 
They  said  if  the  highest  Roman  ecclesiastic  in 
this  country  avows  the  hostility  of  his  creed  to 
all  that  we  cherish,  and  if  he  sanctions  the  an- 
nouncement of  others  that  when  Rome  becomes 
dominant,  religious  toleration  must  terminate, 
we  are  justified  in  believing  that  such  are  the 
intentions  of  the  Catholic  powers,  and  we  do 
right  to  rise  up,  to  silence  these  insolent  minions 
of  the  pope. 

The  most  far-seeing  and  judicious  minds,  had 
often  expressed  it  as  their  conviction  that  foreign 
despots  were  co-operating  with  the  Jesuits  to 
subvert,  if  possible,  our  government.  For  it  is 
known  to  those  crowned  heads,  that  as  long  as 
this  Union  stands,  so  long  their  thrones  must 


36  CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN. 

tremble.  Guard  as  they  will  their  kingdoms 
against  the  inroads  of  liberal  principles,  and  do 
what  they  may  to  shut  out  the  spirit  of  freedom, 
their  subjects  catch  the  inspiration  from  the  very 
air,  and  cannot  and  will  not  lie  quietly  under 
the  wrongs  which  crush  their  spirits  to  the  dust. 
To  overturn  and  cover  with  disastrous  ruin  our 
institutions  is  a  purpose  which  lies  near  their 
hearts.  And  it  is  therefore  not  unreasonable  to 
suppose  that  they  would  do  all  in  their  power  to 
advance  a  system  amongst  us,  which  aims  at  the 
destruction  of  republicanism,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  spiritual  despotism.  And  if  any 
organized  body — any  human  combination  could 
bring  about  such  a  disastrous  result,  the  Romish 
hierarchy  would  do  it. 

The  policy  which  governs  their  action  provides 
for  all  contingencies  which  may  arise  in  the  pro- 
secution of  their  labors.  They  are  permitted  to 
press  all  manner  of  instrumentalities  into  their 
service,  and  as  with  them  the  end  accomplished 
justifies  the  means,  they  are  fully  authorized  to 
commit  any  atrocities  which  are  deemed  neces- 
sary to  effect  their  purpose.  They  are  carefully 
educated  for  their  work,  prepared  by  a  long 
course  of  training  for  endurance,  for  intrigue, 
and,  if  necessary,  for  self-immolation,  to  give 
success  to  their  ambitious  aspirings.  There  is 
not  a  country  upon  the  globe  where  Jesuitism 
has  reigned  triumphant  that  has  not  been  de- 


CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN.  37 

spoiled  of  its  noblest  blessings,  and  swept  as 
with  the  blight  of  death,  through  their  instru- 
mentality. 

It  must  therefore  be  obvious  to  every  unpre- 
judiced mind  conversant  even  to  a  limited  extent 
with  their  efforts  to  widen  the  range  of  their 
influence  and  to  rise  to  absolute  power,  that 
their  arrogance  and  consequent  encroachment 
upon  American  interests  were  mainly  instru- 
mental in  bringing  into  existence  the  Know- 
Nothing  organization.  It  originated  in  the 
state  of  things  which  those  produced,  who 
are  now  so  loud  in  their  denunciations  of 
the  new  order.  Apart  from  this,  as  one  of  the 
originating  causes  of  the  American  party,  there 
are  others  of  an  incidental  character,  which  have 
helped  to  call  it  into  life.  These  will  unfold 
themselves  as  we  proceed,  and  their  importance 
will  be  apparent  from  the  nature  of  the  sources 
from  which  they  flowed.  The  origin  of  the 
Know-Nothings,  although  so  sudden  in  its  mani- 
festations, wras  for  a  long  time  maturing  for  its 
birth.  It  is  palpably  evident  from  its  character  and 
potency,  that  it  has  not  arisen  from  the  troubled 
surface  of  society,  caused  by  a  gale  of  popular 
feeling,  but  has  sprung  from  the  profoundest 
depths  of  the  social  body.  The  causes  were  of 
long  standing  and  had  acquired  great  force,  else 
the  reacting  power  of  this  movement  could  not 
have  been  marked  with  such  terrific  energy. 
4 


38  CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN. 

The  pressure  had  been  felt  at  all  points,  and 
wide  spread  as  the  Union,  and  the  reaction  haa 
been  co-extensive  with  the  circle  of  influence 
which  produced  it. 

We  regard  this  great  movement  as  a  spon- 
taneous rising  of  the  people  in  their  majesty. 
And  while  we  would  deprecate  popular  out- 
breaks, and  deplore  combinations  of  men  to  war 
against  the  interests  or  the  peace  of  society,  we 
rejoice  in  the  presence  of  this  vast  multitude 
who  are  actuated  by  noble  purposes,  and  toiling 
for  an  exalted  end. 

It  is  not  a  blind  movement,  nor  a  misguided, 
irresponsible  power,  but  a  gathering  of  most  ex- 
cellent materials — a  coalescing  of  the  best  citi- 
zens, formerly  divided  in  political  sentiment 
on  unimportant  points.  A  few  years  ago  who 
would  have  predicted  such  a  change  in  the  aspect 
of  the  political  world  ?  Wisely  controlled,  and 
judiciously  directed,  it  will  prove  to  our  country 
a  political  salvation  from  corruptions  which  have 
long  been  festering  upon  the  body  politic.  Their 
mode  of  operation  will  enable  the  organization 
to  keep  clear  of  those  excesses  and  extravagances 
which  were  so  painfully  present  in  the  old  parties. 
For  a  while  the  object  of  scorn  and  ridicule,  it 
is  now  feared  and  respected.  Untrammelled  by 
the  vassalage  of  the  others  to  Rome,  we  behold 
an  American  host  in  the  field,  occupied  in  the 
execution  of  a  mission  as  glorious  as  it  was 


CAUSES    OF    ITS    ORIGIN.  39 

urgent.  There  is  now  no  slumbering  over  the 
great  interests  of  freedom,  men  are  beginning  to 
realize  that  each  one  forms  a  part  of  this  republic, 
and  that  high  responsibilities  rest  upon  the 
humble  as  well  as  the  exalted.  If  a  corrupt 
partizan  press — and  a  designing  spiritual  power 
go  into  paroxysms  of  rage,  because  the  citadel 
of  their  strength  is  tottering,  and  their  power  is 
in  its  death-throes,  the  bitterest  of  all  reflections 
will  be,  that  their  insolence  and  ambition  have 
caused  the  people  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  party 
bondage,  and  roused  them  to  a  true  perception 
of  their  duty — a  duty  which  they  are  now  dis- 
charging by  filling  official  stations  with  honest 
Americans. 


40  PRINCIPLES    STATED. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PRINCIPLES  STATED,  ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED. 

THE  distinguished  publicist  Montesquieu  has 
said,  that  monarchies  are  preserved  by  honor 
and  republics  by  virtue.  The  father  of  our 
country  has  more  truthfully  observed,  that  virtue 
and  intelligence  are  the  great  safeguards  of  our 
liberties.  But  virtue  and  intelligence  are  the 
offspring  of  principles,  and  since  these  underlie 
all  private  and  public  action,  we  may  truly  affirm 
that  as  a  nation  we  are  controlled  more  by 
inward  principle,  than  by  outward  constraint. 
There  must,  therefore,  exist  first  a  public  con- 
science to  create  just  sentiments,  before  we  can 
reasonably  expect  their  legitimate  virtues  among 
citizens.  Ideas  which  are  influential  upon  public 
action  may  be  of  slow  growth,  but  when  pro- 
perly rooted  in  the  social  structure  they  will 
acquire  the  needful  strength  to  reproduce  them- 
selves. If  we  scrutinize  the  actions  of  men,  or 
rather  subject  to  a  rigid  examination  the  results 
of  individual  and  social  life,  we  may  with  absolute 
certainty  pronounce  upon  the  character  of  those 
sentiments  which  actuate  the  individual  or  the 


ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED.   41 

community.  In  like,  manner,  when  we  know  the 
principles  upon  which  action  is  based,  or  to 
which  the  conduct  is  to  be  conformed,  we  may 
infer  the  results  that  may  be  expected. 

In  regard  to  the  organization  now  under  con- 
sideration we  must  adopt  the  latter  method, 
if  we  would  ascertain  its  probable  effects 
upon  the  public  welfare.  We  know  the  princi- 
ples of  this  party,  and  therefore  cannot  mis- 
apprehend the  consequences  which  will  flow 
from  a  conformity  to  them.  One  of  the  leading 
dogmas  of  the  new  order  is,  that  Americans 
should  rule  America.  A  principle  so  easily 
understood  requires  but  little  illustration;  yet 
as  it  may  wear  an  aspect  of  exclusiveness  to 
some  minds,  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  offer 
a  few  considerations  to  show  the  justness  of  this 
article  of  their  creed.  Seeing  that  the  govern- 
ment was  managed  in  many  instances  by  per- 
sons of  foreign  birth,  who  were  reared  under 
influences  widely  different  from  those  under 
which  the  American  mind  matures,  they  believe 
that  those  men  cannot  sympathize  with  American 
interests,  since  they  are  not  actuated  by  those 
sentiments  which  thrill  the  native  bosom.  To 
guard  our  country  against  a  mal-administration 
of  our  laws,  they  hold  the  opinion  that  we  shall 
most  likely  escape  those  evils  that  would  militate 
against  our  prosperity,  and  be  ruinous  to  our  in- 
stitutions, by  elevating  none  but  native  born  to 
4* 


42  PRINCIPLES    STATED, 

official  stations.  That  there  is  more  or  less  danger 
in  committing  the  government  into  the  hands 
of  adopted  citizens,  and  that  sad  consequences 
either  immediately  or  remotely  might  be  antici- 
pated, is  not  an  idea  of  recent  growth.  The 
framers  of  our  constitution  did  not  regard  it  in 
harmony  with  our  interests  or  safety,  to  allow 
the  eligibility  of  a  foreigner  to  the  Presidency 
of  these  United  States.  And  if  in  the  wisdom 
of  those  noble  patriots,  it  would  be  impolitic  and 
perilous  to  the  peace  of  our  country  to  select 
one  of  foreign  birth  to  fill  the  chair  of  State, 
may  we  not,  upon  the  same  ground  exclude 
them  from  all  minor  trusts  ?  May  we  not  urge 
the  force  of  their  example,  as  an  irresistible 
argument  as  touching  all  other  offices  ?  Granted 
that  the  responsibility  may  be  less  and  the  ability 
of  doing  mischief  comparatively  circumscribed 
in  lower  grades  of  office,  still,  if  4n  the  former 
there  is  reason  to  exclude  them  by  a  provisional 
act,  there  must  be,  though  in  a  diminished  de- 
gree, danger  to  trust  them  with  any  official 
stations. 

That  this  maxim  of  the  American  party  has 
been  violently  assailed  we  are  fully  aware,  but 
that  the  wisdom  and  soundness  of  this  policy  has 
been  disproved,  we  do  not  grant.  Of  plausible 
declamation  and  a  show  of  misguided  sympathy 
we  have  seen  enough,  but  it  is  so  common  for 
men  who  have  certain  interests  at  stake  to  have 


ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED.    43 

their  judgments  clouded  and  warped  by  their 
passions,  that  charity  constrains  us  to  ascribe 
their  efforts  in  favor  of  foreigners,  not  to  their 
good  sense,  but  to  a  love  of  distinction.  A 
conviction  not  hastily  formed  constrains  us  to 
believe  that  the  justness  of  the  principle  can  be 
demonstrated  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  candid 
minds.  Wherein  lies  its  injustice  ?  There  are 
only  four  sources  from,  which  the  opposers  of 
the  new  order  have  attempted  to  draw  their 
arguments  against  this  dogma.  From  the  in- 
stincts of  humanity,  from  the  teachings  of 
reason,  from  the  example  of  other  nations,  and 
the  early  practice  of  our  government.  The 
instincts  of  humanity  only  require  us  to  afford 
them  protection  and  to  give  them  scope  for  the 
promotion  of  their  happiness,  and  therefore 
none  of  its  impulses  or  laws  are  contravened  by 
this  principle.  The  dictates  of  reason  are  mani- 
festly in  favor  of  it ;  and  the  example  of  other 
nations  amply  sustains  the  views  of  the  American 
party.  There  is  no  other  nation  so  recreant  to 
its  interests,  as  to  allow  aliens  to  bear  a  part  in 
the  administration  of  its  government.  Those 
indeed  from  whom  our  foreign  population  comes, 
do  not  even  allow  an  expression  of  opinion  con- 
cerning their  laws  and  institutions,  on  the  part  of 
those  who  might  wish  to  make  their  country  a 
place  of  residence.  Citizenship  may  not  be  ob- 
tained in  many  instances  on  any  probation  or  at 


44  PRINCIPLES    STATED, 

any  price.  And  if  there  were  no  other  ground  upon 
which  to  defend  the  principle  that  Americans 
should  rule  America,  the  example  of  other  na- 
tions would  warrant  the  practice  of  this  pre- 
cautionary measure. 

It  is  granted  by  the  highest  authority  that  a 
nation  has  a  natural  and  moral  right  to  form  its 
own  internal  regulations,  provided  its  laws  do 
not  conflict  with  international  law.  No  nation 
has  a  right  to  dictate  to  another,  what  form  of 
government  to  adopt,  or  who  its  rulers  are  to  be, 
or  how  they  shall  be  chosen ;  how  they  shall 
make  citizens  and  what  immunities  are  due  to 
aliens.  It  is  manifest  that  foreigners  have  no 
right  to  dictate  our  laws,  and  therefore  have  no 
just  ground  to  complain  if  Americans  see  proper 
to  exclude  them  from  offices  of  trust.  It  is  a 
great  privilege  and  as  much  as  the  most  ambitious 
should  expect,  if  they  are  permitted  to  become 
naturalized  citizens  after  a  suitable  residence 
among  us ;  for  it  is  assuredly  in  the  power  of 
government  to  withhold  this  boon  altogether, 
and  in  its  bestowment  the  nation  recognizes  no 
rightful  claim  to  it,  on  the  part  of  applicants, 
but  confers  it  as  a  free  gift. 

The  justness  of  this  principle  which  would 
exclude  foreigners  from  office,  is  again  apparent 
from  the  consideration  that  office  is  not  indis- 
pensable to  a  man's  happiness  and  prosperity. 
The  honors  and  responsibilities  of  an  official 


ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED.   45 

position  seldom  promote  a  man's  comfort,  but 
more  frequently  multiply  his  cares.  Instead, 
therefore,  of  doing  a  positive  wrong  to  the  alien 
by  shutting  him  out  of  these  places,  we  would 
save  him  from  a  probable  evil.  It  would  seem 
enough  to  a  reasonable  man  who  has  fled  from 
oppression,  to  be  permitted  to  pursue  some 
honorable  avocation  through  which  he  may 
provide  a  comfortable  subsistence  for  his  family. 
And  it  is  a  fact  not  to  be  overlooked  here,  that 
the  better  portion  of  our  immigrant  population 
do  not  desire  nor  seek  stations  of  trust.  They 
are  content  with  the  quiet  employment  for  which 
they  are  fitted  and  in  which  they  contribute  to 
the  wealth  of  the  nation,  and  though  much  more 
competent  intellectually  and  morally  for  office, 
than  those  brawling  politicians  of  foreign  birth, 
they  agree  with  us,  that  their  measure  of  good 
is  full  to  overflowing,  by  the  civil  and  religious 
freedom  they  enjoy.  "We  regard,  moreover,  the 
principle  that  Americans  should  rule  America 
a  just  one,  for  the  reason  that,  circumstances 
being  equal,  Americans  are  better  qualified  to 
rule.  The  opposite  maxim  we  have  already 
seen  was  viewed  as  dangerous  by  our  fathers, 
who  have  forever  excluded  all  but  the  native  born 
from  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people. 
And  the  great  object  which  all  true  members  of 
our  glorious  commonwealth  should  have  at  heart, 
is  to  get  the  most  competent  rulers. 


46  PRINCIPLES    STATED, 

It  is  of  minor  importance  whether  Whig  or 
Democrat,  or  any  other  party  should  be  in  power, 
but  it  is  of  the  highest  moment,  to  have  wise 
and  able  statesmen.  Not  all  are  born  to  govern, 
and  comparatively  few  possess  the  high  attributes 
that  should  characterize  a  ruler  or  law-maker. 
This  consideration  has  been  too  much  over- 
looked, and  it  is  a  notorious  fact  that  both  the 
old  parties  had  lost  sight  of  it  altogether.  Can- 
didates were  selected,  and  their  election  urged 
on  the  ground  of  their  devotion  to  the  party,  or 
taken  because  some  outward  prestige  made 
them  the  most  available.  Availability  was  the 
prominent  item,  and  by  that  was  meant,  his 
ability  to  secure  the  foreign  vote.  If  it  could 
be  made  to  appear  that  Bishop  Hughes  would 
endorse  him,  and  that  the  Catholics  would  sup- 
port him  with  unanimity,  he  was  considered 
worthy  to  bear  the  standard  of  the  party.  If  he 
had  an  ear  for  "  the  sweetness  of  the  German 
accent,  and  the  richness  of  the  Irish  brogue," 
he  was  put  upon  the  course  of  the  Presidential 
race.  If,  unfortunatel}7,  he  could  not  command 
the  Catholic  element,  he  was  laid  aside,  since  for 
the  lack  of  this  nothing  could  atone.  Bishop 
Hughes  has  made  and  unmade  governors,  legis- 
lators, and  Presidents.  He  and  his  coadjutors 
have,  in  a  political  sense  much  more  than  in  a 
spiritual  one,  borne  the  keys,  and  had  power  to 
shut  and  no  man  could  open,  and  open  and  no 


ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED.    47 

man  could  shut,  the  door  of  political  preferment. 
This  cringing  to  the  papacy  on  the  part  of  our 
public  men,  and  their  dread  of  giving  offence  in 
this  quarter,  has  for  years  placed  them  in  subjec- 
tion to  hierarchical  dictation,  and  made  them 
the  pliable  instruments  of  officious  prelates. 

But  to  return  to  the  point,  I  ask  who  will 
venture  to  affirm  that  a  man,  reared  under  a 
monarchical  or  despotic  form  of  government,  is 
better  fitted  to  administer  the  affairs  of  state 
than  an  American  ?  Is  it  not  unpardonable 
presumption  to  maintain  such  a  monstrous  pro- 
position ?  Look  at  the  case  in  the  light  of 
reason ;  the  one  has  grown  upon  a  foreign 
soil,  and  the  peculiarities  of  his  nationality  are 
interwoven  with  the  very  texture  of  his  being. 
He  is  easily  recognized  by  his  language,  by  his 
habits  and  mode  of  life,  so  much  so,  that  even 
a  child  may  tell  us  the  country  that  produced 
him.  And  if  these  national  characteristics  are 
so  visible  in  the  outward  man,  if  the  whole  ex- 
terior glows  with  the  distinctive  features  of  the 
land  from  which  he  hails,  will  not  his  intellectual 
and  moral  natures  present  the  same  peculiarities  ? 
These  can  no  more  be  American  than  the  man 
himself.  He  is  a  stranger  to  those  instincts  and 
that  expansive  spirit  which  are  purely  American. 
He  is  totally  unlike  the  son  of  the  soil,  he  can- 
not unmake  himself,  reconstruct  his  nature, 
nor  people  his  mind  with  new  sentiments  and 


48  PRINCIPLES    STATED, 

tendencies,  and  until  he  can  do  that,  he  cannot 
compare  with  a  native  citizen  in  his  qualifica- 
tions, much  less  claim  superiority.  We  utterly 
deny,  we  scout  the  idea,  and  pronounce  it  a 
tibel  upon  American  citizens ;  nay,  we  affirm 
without  the  fear  of  contradiction,  that  the  sons 
of  the  soil  are  the  only  men  who  should  be 
entrusted  with  the  weighty  affairs  of  state,  either 
at  home  or  abroad.  These  are  the  more  com- 
petent, because  familiar  from  childhood  with  the 
great  interests  of  the  nation  :  their  sympathies, 
their  education,  the  influences  under  which  their 
minds  matured — all  are  favorable  to  make  them 
competent,  efficient  and  honest  rulers !  If,  there- 
fore, any  regard  is  to  be  had  to  the  fitness  of 
men  when  selecting  our  rulers,  we  must  give 
the  preference  to  native  born.  With  such  men, 
truly  American  in  their  feelings,  we  are  con- 
scious of  a  security  which  we  cannot  cherish 
when  men  not  reared  on  the  soil  are  placed  over 
us.  To  our  own  we  can  give  our  confidence, 
for  we  are  assured  of  their  patriotism.  This 
principle  of  the  new  party  we  think  sufficiently 
vindicated.  As  I  write  for  the  people,  I  have 
given  a  plain,  common  sense  view  of  the  subject, 
and  doubt  not  that  my  fellow-citizens,  whatever 
their  party  predilections  may  be,  will  pronounce 
this  feature  in  the  new  creed  eminently  just  and 
patriotic.  It  is  a  principle  shadowed  forth  by 
the  founders  of  this  republic,  and  fully  brought 


ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED.    49 

out  by  the  emergency  of  the  times.  There  is 
a  numerous  body  of  men  impelled  by  a  fanatical 
zeal,  who  love  nothing  but  power,  and  who  will 
never  rest  so  long  as  civil  and  spiritual  freedom 
cover  this  land  with  their  blessings  and  make 
each  man  a  sovereign ;  and  these  men  can  only 
be  kept  within  appropriate  limits  by  bringing 
into  force  the  principle  here  advocated. 

Another  dogma  of  the  new  order  is,  to  pro- 
tect American  interests.  It  is  an  ancient  maxim, 
"first  be  just  before  you  are  generous."  This 
maxim  applies  here  with  peculiar  force :  Ameri- 
cans owe  duties  to  themselves  in  an  individual, 
as  well  as  in  a  collective  capacity ;  which  they 
are  bound  by  every  dictate  of  reason  to  discharge, 
before  they  seek  other  objects  upon  whom  to 
bestow  their  generosity.  The  first  great  duty  is 
to  preserve  our  glorious  institutions  in  their 
purity.  We  are  bound  to  transmit  them  to  our 
posterity  as  we  received  them,  untarnished  and 
uncorrupted.  If  we  do  not  guard  them,  who 
will?  If  Americans  do  not  exercise  "eternal 
vigilance  which  is  the  price  of  liberty,"  who  will 
do  it  for  us  ?  It  is  equally  obvious,  that  in  order 
to  retain  them  as  they  are,  the  same  influences, 
civil  and  moral,  which  have  moulded  the  Ameri- 
can character  and  made  it  what  it  is,  must  be 
kept  alive  and  exerted  upon  the  rising  generation. 
What  are  these  ?  Chiefly  those  connected  with 
our  educational  institutions.  Is  there  any  danger 
5 


50  PRINCIPLES    STATED, 

that  these  influences  may  be  weakened  or  coun- 
teracted ?  Most  assuredly.  And  pray  what  or 
who  would  war  against  things  so  sacred,  and  so 
vitally  associated  with  our  very  existence?  I 
reply  the  papacy,  French  infidelity,  German 
skepticism,  and  socialism  have  formed  a  tre- 
mendous combination  against  these  very  inte- 
rests. Our  revolutionary  sires  held  that  the 
Bible,  the  sabbath,  and  the  common  schools, 
were  the  strong  bulwarks  of  our  national  free- 
dom and  prosperity. 

Whatever  denominational  distinctions  may 
exist,  the  nation  cannot  live  and  prosper  without 
the  Bible  and  the  sabbath.  Look  where  you 
will,  you  will  see  that  where  no  sabbath  recalls 
men  from  the  cares  and  agitations  of  worldly 
pursuits,  immorality  and  vice  abound ;  and 
where  no  Bible  restrains,  a  moral  blight  and 
mildew  settle  down  upon  the  energies  of  a 
nation. 

The  experiment  of  France  to  live  without  the 
Bible,  without  the  sabbath,  and  without  God, 
was  most  disastrous  in  its  consequences.  Behold 
Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  Mexico,  all  melancholy 
examples  of  national  imbecility  and  oppression — 
all  marked  by  the  most  abject  moral  and  social 
degradation ;  and  these  are  the  legitimate  fruits 
of  banishing  the  Bible  and  abrogating  the  laws 
of  the  sabbath.  Every  American,  whether  prac- 
tically a  Christian  or  not,  has  an  interest  at  stake 


ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED.   51 

here — a  sacred  trust  worthy  to  be  guarded  with 
a  jealous  eye,  and  to  be  defended  with  his  last 
drop  of  patriotic  blood.  The  influences  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  sabbath,  more  than  aught  else, 
have  caused  the  path  of  our  progress  as  a  nation 
to  glow  with  glory.  "What  causes  us  to  differ  in 
the  elements  of  strength  and  the  grandeur  of 
our  prospect  from  the  nations  to  which  I  have 
just  referred  ?  Why  is  New  England  compared 
with  Spain  as  a  paradise  to  a  desert  ?  Why  are 
the  citizens  from  ocean  to  ocean  in  this  republic 
rejoicing  in  an  affluence  of  rare  and  rich  bles- 
sings, while  the  subjects  of  Catholic  countries 
are  perishing  for  lack  of  bread  ?  Why  does  the 
light  of  knowledge  stream  from  every  cottage 
here,  while  a  dark  cloud  of  ignorance  covers,  as 
with  the  pall  of  death,  those  lands  subject  to  the 
triple  crown  ?  Manifestly  because  the  Bible,  the 
sabbath  and  the  public  school  have  imparted 
life,  energy,  and  happiness  to  our  population, 
while  the  absence  of  these  intellectual  and  moral 
luminaries  among  other  nations  have  caused 
them  to  decline  until  some  of  them  are  now 
languishing  on  the  very  borders  of  an  inglorious 
destruction. 

These,  then,  are  precious  interests,  because 
they  restrain  vice  and  promote  virtue;  vice 
ruins,  but  virtue  exalts  a  people.  But  behold 
how  these  very  pillars  of  our  prosperity  are 
threatened  by  foreign  hordes,  who  would  change 


52  PRINCIPLES    STATED, 

our  sabbaths  of  devotion  into  days  of  riot,  and 
our  sanctuaries  into  theatres.  The  influences 
employed  to  corrupt  and  ruin  our  nation  are  of 
an  alarming  character.  Not  only  are  great  ex- 
ertions made  to  effect  this,  but  made  by  powerful 
instrumentalities.  While  with  the  immigrants 
we  occasionally  import  some  virtue  and  some 
valuable  material  to  nourish  the  life  of  this 
nation,  we  also  receive  those  elements  which, 
if  unsubdued  and  suffered  to  gain  the  ascendency 
will  blight  and  desolate  this  far-famed  and  beau- 
tiful land.  Infidels,  socialists,  and  Jesuits  are 
all  pestilential  fellows.  These  attempt  to  poison 
the  fountains  of  knowledge  and  literature. 
Thousands  of  foul  sheets  are  published  and  scat- 
tered broadcast  over  the  land,  whose  aim  as  well 
as  tendency  is,  to  unhinge  the  public  conscience, 
to  unsettle  the  virtue,  and  vitiate  the  morals  of 
the  people.  In  waging  their  warfare  against  the 
life  of  this  nation,  they  are  not  choice  in  their 
weapons.  They  assume  any  disguise  that  may 
gain  them  access  to  the  sanctuary  of  our  homes 
and  the  altars  of  our  country.  Philanthropy, 
science,  and  literature,  are  all  made  vehicles  for 
disseminating  their  principles.  But  the  most 
dangerous,  because  the  most  subtle  of  all  enemies 
is,  Jesuitism.  It  will  overcome  any  obstruction, 
and  will  penetrate  any  bulwark  reared  against 
it.  For  there  is  not  a  garb  from  the  most  foul 
and  licentious  abandonment,  up  to  the  most 


ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED.   53 

refined  and  richly  embellished  dress  of  literature 
and  poetry,  in  which  these  enemies  have  not 
assailed  the  pillars  of  our  republic.  Either  the 
principles  handed  down  to  us  by  our  fathers, 
or  those  of  Jesuitism  will  prevail.  Our  sab- 
baths, our  bibles,  and  our  public  schools  will 
continue  to  be  cherished  as  the  great  conserva- 
tors of  our  national  interests,  or  they  will  give 
place  to  one  dominant  despotic  spiritual  power, 
which,  instead  of  sending  our  children  to  the 
school,  may  send  them  to  the  inquisition. 

While  these  remain  unharmed,  our  nation  will 
stand ;  when  they  fall,  our  nation  with  its  glo- 
rious blessings  and  hopes  will  fall !  This  con- 
flict of  principles  even  now  shakes  the  land. 
If  you  will,  you  may  hear  a  voice  from  our 
homes,  from  our  altars,  and  from  the  shrine  of 
freedom  in  our  Metropolis,  saying,  arise  freemen, 
and  to  the  conflict,  for  the  cry  of  battle  rings 
through  the  land.  The  enemy  is  receiving  con- 
stant and  powerful  accessions  —  and  dare  we 
slumber?  While  they  are  forging  chains  to 
bind  our  free  spirits — while  they  are  kindling 
fires  to  consume  our  bibles,  and  digging  a  grave 
for  Liberty,  shall  we  look  quietly  on  until  the 
deed  is  done  ?  Not  if  the  spirit  which  animated 
our  fathers  has  descended  to  the  sons — not  if  the 
blood  which  nerved  their  arms  in  seventy-six  pul- 
sates through  our  veins  !  Nay,  if  a  spark  of  that 
patriotism  that  dared  to  resist  British  oppression 
5* 


54  PRINCIPLES    STATED, 

burns  in  our  bosoms,  and  the  lofty  purposes  of 
our  fathers  thrill  in  our  souls,  we  will,  we  must 
cherish  and  defend  the  great  interests  of  our 
nation. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  Bible,  the  sabbath,  and 
the  public  schools  as  our  great  interests,  and 
assigned  them  this  high  rank  because  they  lie  at 
the  foundation  of  our  past  successes,  are  the  true 
secret  of  our  present  unexampled  prosperity, 
and  must  forever  maintain  an  intimate  connec- 
tion with  our  progress  and  glory.  For  one,  I 
rejoice  that  the  religious  element  pulsates  strongly 
in  this  new  order.  Not  intolerance,  but  such  an 
appreciation  of  the  exalted  blessings  of  religious 
freedom,  that  men  within  and  without  the  en- 
closure of  the  Christian  church,  are  unwilling 
to  bow  their  necks  to  the  yoke  of  spiritual 
oppression.  For  these  men,  while  they  labor, 
not  for  the  ascendency  of  any  denomination  or 
sect,  are  prepared  to  guard  the  rights  of  con- 
science and  liberty  of  worship  for  all.  And  while 
many  of  them  are  not  intimately  nor  profession- 
ally associated  with  any  denomination,  they  have 
that  religious  consciousness  which  lives  in  the 
bosom  of  every  American,  and  they  cannot  and 
will  not  quietly  look  on  while  infidels  and  Jesuits, 
vandal-like,  attempt  to  tear  away  the  foundation 
stones  of  the  temple  of  freedom.  "Washington 
felt  the  need  and  insisted  upon  the  cultivation 
of  that  morality  which  has  its  source  in  the 


ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED.   55 

Bible,  and  its  centre  in  Xjkxl,  as  the  only  perma- 
nent vitality  of  our  system. 

Daniel  Webster  and  General  Cass — men  of 
master  intellects,  whose  names  will  forever  live 
and  shine  in  our  country's  glory,  have  given 
us  their  testimony  that  Christianity  is  an  integral 
part  of  our  government,  and  therefore  as  worthy 
of  protection  in  its  free,  untrammelled  activity, 
as  any  other  element  in  our  political  constitution. 
That  there  may  be  found  occasionally  fanatical 
men  who  may  be  carried  to  extremes  by  a  blind 
impulse  none  will  deny,  and  none  will  be  more 
ready  to  deplore  and  to  punish  lawless  violence 
than  the  party  whose  name  and  whose  principles 
they  abuse  in  such  acts ,  but  surely  no  intelligent 
and  unbiassed  mind  will  attempt  to  prove  the 
evil  tendency  of  a  creed  by  the  errors  of  a  few 
of  its  adherents,  for  according  to  this  rule  they 
might  convict  all  Americans  of  treason  because 
among  them  was  found  a  Benedict  Arnold. 

But  these  are  not  the  only  interests  which  the 
American  party  seeks  to  promote  and  defend. 
Our  religious  toleration  and  our  educational 
system,  they  will  protect  by  their  honor,  their 
fortunes  and  their  lives,  but  while  they  do  this, 
they  will  also  throw  their  protecting  shield  over 
commerce  and  manufactures.  They  desire  to  be 
just  to  our  citizens,  before  they  are  generous  to 
other  nations.  They  would  suitably  compensate 
the  man  of  toil,  and  encourage  industry  and 


56  PRINCIPLES    STATED, 

enterprise.  They  do  not  recognize  the  principle 
as  just,  to  wound  at  home  that  they  may  heal 
abroad,  to  impoverish  those  among  us  who  ply 
the  loom,  or  spread  the  sail,  that  others  may  be 
enriched  at  the  expense  of  native  sweat  and 
energy.  They  would  first  provide  bread  for  our 
own  household,  before  they  would  send  their 
charities  abroad  upon  a  doubtful  errand.  They 
hope  to  do  this  by  such  a  regulation  of  the  duties 
on  imports,  as  to  afford  a  fair  remuneration  for 
labor  at  home,  in  the  production  of  the  same 
articles  of  trade.  They  would,  as  far  as  possible, 
equalize  the  burdens  and  blessings  of  govern- 
ment. Are  not  these  principles  just  ?  Is  there 
aught  about  them  oppressive,  or  intolerant? 
The  answer  from  the  sons  of  toil  is  an  emphatic 
no !  no !  Those  who  live  sumptuously  every 
day  and  whose  fortunes  permit  them  to  give 
ample  scope  to  their  indulgence  may  theorize  on 
abstract  questions — but  the  poor  mechanic, 
whose  arm  is  the  only  wealth  of  a  numerous 
family,  does,  and  may  justly  expect  some  prac- 
tical good  at  the  hands  of  legislators.  Such 
men  have  long  looked  in  vain  for  such 
action,  as  might  benefit  the  poor  man  from 
those  whom  they  placed  in  power.  But  they 
have  discovered  that  their,  professed  friends 
seemed  more  anxious  to  legislate  foreigners  into 
landed  estates  that  they  might  secure  their  votes, 
than  to  do  justice  to  those  whose  profession  ex- 


ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED.   57 

eluded  them  from  the  henefits  of  a  western 
home.  But  now  they  take  men  from  their  own 
ranks,  conversant  with  the  hardships  and  wants 
of  the  people,  and  they  will  not  disappoint  their 
expectations. 

Another  principle  of  the  new  order  is,  no 
union  of  Church  and  State.  Their  opponents 
have,  either  ignorantly  or  designedly,  grossly 
misrepresented  them.  The  cry  of  proscription 
for  conscience  sake,  is  the  figment  of  disordered 
brains  and  lacerated  hopes — and  is  supposed  to 
be  efficacious  in  bringing  back  those  who  have 
passed  from  the  old  ranks.  Proscription — bah ! 
when  a  fundamental  principle  enunciated  is — 
No  UNION  BETWEEN  CHURCH  AND  STATE.  They 
will  cherish  both,  but  will  not  suffer  an  amalga- 
mation. Things  were  tending  in  that  direction 
so  palpably,  as  to  call  up  the  American  party  to 
stem  the  tide,  and  roll  back  the  current  of  sym- 
pathy which  was  bearing  our  political  leaders 
and  our  precious  interests,  to  the  unfathomable 
bosom  of  Holy  Mother  Rome.  That  power, 
ever  ready  for  self-aggrandizement,  looked  with 
a  wistful  eye  to  the  dominion  of  this  broad  land. 
The  Mississippi  valley  would  have  made  more 
than  a  second  Italy.  It  would  have  been  a 
magnificent  seat  for  the  sovereign  Pontiff,  and 
then  it  would  have  been  not  only  far  more  beau- 
tiful and  extensive  than  the  states  now  subject 
to  the  triple  crown,  but  it  Vould  have  yielded 


58  PRINCIPLES    STATED, 

such  handsome  revenues.  The  Pope  of  Rome 
could  have  made  it  quite  convenient,  to  shift  the 
seat  of  his  dominion  from  the  seven  hills  to 
that  broad  valley,  seeing  that  he  would  not 
have  broken  the  hearts  of  his  people  by  leaving 
them.  And  though  danger,  perhaps  disaster, 
might  have  befallen  that  venerable  relic,  the  chair 
of  St.  Peter,  in  its  transit  over  the  waters,  or 
like  Peter  himself,  might  have  gone  down  into 
the  waves,  yet  as  he  professes  to  be  invested  with 
the  attributes  of  Deity — he  might  have  com- 
manded the  sea  to  yield  up  the  treasure.  And 
then,  too,  that  noble  stream — the  father  of  rivers 
— would  in  point  of  majesty,  have  accorded 
much  better  with  the  boasted  extent  and  magni- 
ficence of  the  Catholic  Church,  while  it  might 
have  been  a  practical  illustration  by  the  filth 
gathered  from  afar  and  near,  of  the  corruption 
of  that  mammoth  mother  of  pollution.  And 
while  it  would  have  been  much  more  convenient 
for  Arch  John  to  go  for  his  red  cap,  it  would 
have  been  in  all  respects  rather  a  desirable  change 
from  the  narrow  limits  of  the  present  papal 
sovereignty,  to  the  possession  of  a  country 
washed  by  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  and  filled 
with  invaluable  treasures. 

But  as  an  old  tutor  used  to  tell  us  when  he 
interposed  his  respectable  proportions  between 
us  and  some  fondly  planned  enjoyment — "Boys5 
there  is  many  a  slip  between  the  cup  and  the 


ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED.   59 

lip ;"  or  as  the  old  nurse  would  have  it,  "Don't 
count  your  chickens  before  they  are  hatched."  So 
these  scarlet-robed  counsellors  were  making  their 
calculations  without  paying  proper  attention  to 
what  Paschal  terms  for  them,  proximate  and  not 
proximate  causes.  Their  leaders  in  this  country 
were  cunning,  but  not  cautious.  They  became 
too  ardent  in  their  hopes,  and  by  a  premature 
bound  dashed  to  atoms  the  fair  fabric  of 
Catholic  supremacy,  which  had  already  loomed 
out  to  their  excited  fancy  in  all  the  wealth  of  its 
magnificent  proportions.  The  war  proclamation 
of  Hughes,  and  the  premature  visit  of  Bedini, 
spoiled  all  their  plans.  The  American  eagle  was 
not  so  firmly  chained  as  they  had  anticipated, 
and  when  the  noble  bird  felt  the  pressure  of  an 
iron  hand,  it  scorned  the  touch,  and  bursting  its 
fetters  soared  once  more  with  outspread  pinions 
towards  the  sun. 

Though  much  had  been  conceded  to  the  Cath- 
olic power,  many  leading  politicians  were  under 
obligations  to  its  priesthood,  and  things  had 
reached  such  a  point,  that  a  little  more  success 
would  have  formed  a  connecting  link  between 
the  Church  and  the  state;  but  that  sleepless 
angel  of  Liberty,  that  has  poised  with  outspread 
wings  over  our  republic  from  its  infancy  to  the 
present  hour,  averted  the  terrible  disaster  with 
which  we  were  threatened. 

A  mysterious  power  brooded  over  the  minds 


60  PRINCIPLES    STATED, 

and  played  amid  the  emotions  of  Americans. 
One  man  expressed  his  fears,  and  proposed  the 
plan  which  he  had  conceived  absolutely  essential 
to  save  us  from  foreign  domination — and  behold 
his  neighbor  had  the  same  thoughts  and  appre- 
hensions, and  another,  and  another  coincided — 
so  that  it  appeared  that  the  patriotic  all  over  this 
land  had  the  same  convictions  and  like  feelings 
as  to  their  duty ;  and  hence  this  spontaneous 
and  universal  rising  to  resist  papal  aggressions. 
We  fearlessly  assert,  that  the  man  who  would 
not  join  his  exertions  with  his  brothers  to  pre- 
vent such  a  calamity  as  the  union  of  Church  and 
State,  is  not  a  true  citizen,  and  not  worthy  of  a 
grave  in  the  soil  that  he  would  not  defend  from 
the  blight  of  the  worst  of  all  curses,  that  ever 
emptied  their  woes  upon  our  wretched  race. 

These  then  are  the  great,  and  leading  princi- 
ples of  the  American  party.  "What  man  can 
object  to  them?  Will  an  American  in  whose 
heart  burn  the  fires  of  a  lofty  patriotism? 
Surely  not.  They  are  sound  maxims,  consonant 
with  the  genius  of  our  constitution  and  in  har- 
mony with  the  sublimest  deductions  of  reason. 
The  last  principle  stated  is  of  such  vital  impor- 
tance and  of  such  infinite  magnitude  that  we 
might  fill  volumes  with  illustrations  of  the  evils 
that  flow  from  the  unnatural  blending  of  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  power,  which  the  new  party 
labors  to  prevent.  Although  I  may  not  enlarge 


ILLUSTRATED  AND  ENFORCED.   61 

on  this  point,  I  cannot  pass  without  suffering 
another  who  was  reared  amid  the  influences 
where  the  Church  rules  the  state,  to  present  one 
form  of  these  evils.  Helvetius,  while  considering 
in  his  philosophy  the  constitution  of  the  Jesuit 
order,  as  it  relates  to  their  ambitious  aspirings, 
remarks — "The  Jesuits  sought  credit,  power 
and  importance,  and  obtained  them  in  the 
Catholic  courts.  What  means  did  they  employ 
for  this  purpose  ?  Terror  and  seduction.  What 
rendered.them  formidable  to  princes  ?  The  union 
of  their  will  with  that  of  their  general.  The 
ancients  could  not  have  solved  the  following 
political  problem,  'How  one  man  from  the 
centre  of  a  monastery  can  rule  an  infinity  of 
others,  dispersed  over  different  climates,  and 
subject  to  different  laws  and  sovereigns  ?  How 
this  man,  often  at  immense  distances,  can  pre- 
serve an  authority  over  his  subjects  sufficient  to 
make  them  at  his  pleasure  move,  act,  think,  and 
constantly  regulate  their  conduct  by  the  ambi- 
tious views  of  their  order  ?'  Before  the  institu- 
tion of  monasteries,  this  would  have  appeared 
the  problem  of  a  madman.  It  would  have  been 
ranked  with  the  Platonic  chimeras.  This  chimera 
has  however  been  realized."  This  dreaded  order, 
this  terrible  combination  of  men  is  in  our  midst. 
In  our  government,  they  are  moulding  public  sen- 
timent, and  their  hellish  plots  to  subjugate  this  na- 
tion to  the  papacy,  are  silently  laid  and  resolutely 
6 


62  PRINCIPLES    STATED,     ETC. 

carried  forward  toward  their  consummation. 
This  same  writer,  though  reared  in  the  bosom 
of  that  church,  says  again,  "In  the  Catholic 
Cantons  of  Switzerland,  want  and  stupidity 
reign ;  in  the  Protestant  cantons,  plenty  and 
industry;  popery,  therefore,  is  destructive  to 
empires." 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  American  party 
to  persecute  or  extinguish  this  system,  but  to 
keep  it  within  its  appropriate  limits.  They  may 
worship  as  they  please,  and  proselyte  as  many 
bishops,  and  senators  or  citizens,  as  they  can ; 
but  they  shall  not  grasp  the  reins  of  government 
— for  while  we  allow  them  freedom,  we  mean  to 
remain  free  ourselves.  After  an  impartial  ex- 
amination of  this  new  creed,  I  can  see  nothing 
but  that  which  will  foster  virtue,  promote  the 
happiness  of  the  people,  and  therefore  the  in- 
terests of  the  nation.  He  alone  can  oppose 
useful  reformation  in  the  state,  who,  founding 
his  grandeur  on  the  debasement  and  misery  of 
his  fellow-citizens,  would  usurp  an  arbitrary 
power  over  them.  But  the  honest  man,  the  friend 
of  truth  and  of  his  country,  can  have  no  interest 
contrary  to  that  of  his  nation.  When  we  are 
happy  in  the  happiness  of  the  nation,  and  glo- 
rious in  its  glory,  we  ardently  desire  the  correc- 
tion of  every  abuse.  A  science  is  not  annihilated 
by  being  improved,  nor  a  government  destroyed 
by  being  reformed. 


THE    OBJECTS,    ETC.  63 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  OBJECTS  WHICH  THIS  ORGANIZATION  AIMS  TO 
ACCOMPLISH. 

0 

AMONG  the  objects  which  the  American  party 
proposes  to  pursue  and  accomplish,  we  place  first 
a  change  in  the  Naturalization  laws.  Intelligent 
men,  whether  identified  or  not  with  the  new 
party,  have  long  since  felt  and  acknowledged 
the  disastrous  evils  which  flow  from  the  sudden 
transformation  of  foreigners  into  citizens.  So 
marked  and  wide-spread  are  the  evils  complained 
of,  that  they  are  the  frequent  theme  of  comment 
among  our  reflecting  citizens.  That  they  have 
not  been  modified  before,  is  to  be  partly  ascribed 
to  that  noble  characteristic  of  the  American 
mind,  its  reluctance  to  touch  a  thing  that  has 
become  sacred  by  time-honored  and  eventful 
associations.  It  is  an  instinct  of  human  nature 
to  cling  fondly  to  that  which  has  originated  with 
our  fathers ;  and  this  feeling,  though  it  cherishes 
even  an  insignificant  relic,  is  to  be  commended. 

Men  are  slow  in  changing  their  customs,  and 
still  tardier  in  making  a  change  in  their  laws. 
But  we  are  endowed  with  reason  as  well  as 


64  THE    OBJECTS    AIMED    AT 

feeling,  and  when  the  importance  of  an  emer- 
gency demands  it,  the  former  must  triumph  over 
the  latter.  In  regard  to  the  Naturalization  laws, 
they  are  venerable,  not  simply  because  they  are 
the  enactments  of  our  patriotic  ancestors,  but 
also  because  they  are  co-existent  with  our  re- 
public. The  nation  has  grown  and  prospered. 
For  more  than  half  a  century,  it  is  maintained, 
that  those  statutes  have  worked  well,  and  we 
admit  that  the  evils  incident  to  their  operation 
have  been  modified  and  subdued  by  other  influ- 
ences, so  that  no  irreparable  disaster  has  yet 
issued  from  their  abuse.  Our  nation  has  gone 
forward  and  in  its  growth  has  incorporated  into 
its  own  system  the  foreign  elements  that  were 
continually  flowing  into  its  bosom  without  pro- 
ducing any  far-reaching  injury.  But  that  no 
very  disastrous  results  have  been  realized  from 
the  great  facility  with  which  aliens  are  invested 
with  the  prerogatives  of  citizenship,  should  not 
blind  us  to  the  fact  that  the  laws  unchanged 
may  prove' ruinous  in  the  future.  The  human 
body  may  inhale  a  large  amount  of  pestilential 
atmosphere,  and  still  continue  to  throw  off'  its 
debilitating  effects ;  but  there  is  a  point  when,  if 
kept  in  contact  with  the  noxious  elements,  it 
can  offer  no  more  resistance,  but  must  yield  up 
its  health  and  life ;  and  in  like  manner  may  the 
body  politic  for  a  long  period  receive  into  its 
system  elements  destructive  to  its  health  without 


BY    THIS    ORGANIZATION.  65 

giving  way ;  but  if  it  becomes  surcharged  with 
these,  it  may  have  its  strength  gradually  ex- 
hausted and  finally  yield  to  the  power  of  cor- 
ruption. While  we  regard  the  laws  under  dis- 
cussion in  this  light,  and  look  upon  them  as  the 
means  of  introducing  into  our  system  much  that 
is  detrimental  to  a  sound  and  lasting  national 
prosperity,  we  are  clearly  of  the  opinion  that 
unless  some  radical  change  takes  place  in  rela- 
tion to  the  admission  of  foreigners  to  citizenship, 
they  will  work  disastrous  ruin  to  our  institutions. 
Men  frequently  rely  too  much  upon  the  past, 
for  the  character  of  the  future,  and  in  nothing 
may  we  be  more  deplorably  deceived  than  in  a 
case  like  this.  They  tell  us  that  these  laws  have 
worked  well,  that  it  was  a  wise  political  measure, 
and  that  a  judicious  execution  of  them  will  con- 
tinue to  work  good.  Here  we  raise  an  issue. 
I  maintain  that  laws  may  and  justly  do  receive 
their  complexion  from  the  circumstances  of  the 
times  in  which  they  are  framed ;  nay,  that  the 
condition  of  the  people  may  not  only  have  dic- 
tated the  character  of  legislative  enactments, 
but  a  change  of  those  circumstances  may  as 
peremptorily  demand  a  modification  of  those 
laws  to  suit  their  altered  condition,  and  some- 
times a  total  abrogation  of  statutes  when  they 
prove  hostile  to  their  interests.  Now  what  were 
the  circumstances  under  which  the  Naturaliza- 
tion laws  were  formed  ?  In  regard  to  ourselves 
6* 


66  THE    OBJECTS    AIMED    AT 

manifestly  these  —  we  were  an  infant  nation, 
standing  in  need  of  men,  with  an  immense 
territory  and  a  long  line  of  unprotected  coast, 
and  a  powerful  kingdom  in  a  threatening  attitude 
towards  us.  Our  very  existence  was  in  peril,  no- 
thing was  therefore  more  important  to  us  than  the 
rapid  growth  of  our  numerical  strength.  It  was 
an  object  of  paramount  importance  at  the  time, 
to  have  our  lands  occupied,  our  solitudes  peopled, 
our  roads  opened,  and  our  cities  built.  Such  is 
not  our  condition  now.  There  is  at  present  no 
common  danger  whose  external  pressure  can 
unite  men  of  different  nationalities  in  one  body, 
to  resist  the  encroachments  of  a  terrible  enemy. 
Much  of  our  territory  is  peopled,  our  wide 
domain  is  rapidly  filling  up,  our  coasts  are  pro- 
tected, our  cities  built,  our  roads  and  canals 
constructed,  and  we  should  now  guard  against 
the  evils  which  do  accompany  the  unparalleled 
influx  of  foreigners ;  so  that  they  may  not  be 
prematurely  invested  with  that  power  which  in 
unskilful  or  designing  hands  might  convert  this 
asylum  for  the  down-trodden  of  earth  into  a 
despotism  of  oppression. 

But  there  has  been  another  change  wrought 
in  our  condition  worthy  of  consideration.  In 
the  infancy  of  our  national  existence  there  was 
nothing  to  appeal  to  the  ambition  of  strangers, 
nothing  to  kindle  hopes  of  gain,  nothing  to  in- 
Aflame  those  powerful  passions  in  human  nature, 


BY    THIS    ORGANIZATION.  67 

the  love  of  power  and  pleasure.  Neither  could 
a  love  of  ease  or  indolence  have  any  hope  of 
gratification  in  a  comparatively  new  country. 
Pickpockets  would  not  promote  their  interests 
by  coming  where  the  pockets  were  all  empty, 
and  convicts  were  not  then  released  and  sent 
here  to  try  their  fortunes.  The  immigrants  of 
those  times  were  men  who  came  with  a  view  to 
enter  the  various  pursuits  of  human  industry. 
They  came  to  seek  a  home  for  themselves  and 
their  children.  And  from  men  who  felled  the 
forest,  turned  up  the  virgin  soil,  huilt  their  cabins 
along  the  borders  of  civilized  life,  or  entered 
some  other  laudable  vocation,  and  thus  con- 
tributed to  the  strength  and  wealth  of  the  nation, 
no  danger  could  be  apprehended. 

The  vicious  and  the  idle  had  no  inducements 
to  leave  the  old  world  to  seek  subsistence  in  the 
new.  They  would  fare  better  in  the  old  cities, 
or  in  the  more  populous  countries  of  Europe, 
for  there  they  might  possibly  live  without  toil, 
but  here  it  was  work  or  die.  Those,  therefore, 
who  would  fly  to  our  shores  then,  were  essentially 
different  in  their  principles  and  character  from 
the  vast  majority  of  those  who  now  form  that 
unbroken  current  which  is  pouring  its  millions 
upon  our  soil.  They  were  men  in  whom  the 
love  of  liberty  was  predominant,  and  whose  souls 
throbbed  with  aspirations  after  freedom — men 
who  fled  from  civil  and  religious  oppression  — 


68  THE    OBJECTS    AIMED    AT 

men  who  either  came  for  conscience  sake,  or  in 
obedience  to  those  noble  impulses  which  inclined 
them  to  a  nation  of  freemen.  But  the  state  of 
things  is  materially  altered.  Now  while  there 
are  doubtless  noble  and  excellent  persons  among 
those  coming  into  our  midst,  a  large  proportion 
are  unquestionably  totally  destitute  of  those 
elements  of  character,  which  our  laws  should 
require  before  adopting  them  as  citizens.  Some 
are  idlers,  who  would  subsist  on  the  industry  of 
others;  others  prove  themselves  the  most  infa-- 
mous  characters, — adepts  in  all  that  is  base,  and 
proficient  in  villany.  Paupers  sent  over  at  the 
public  expense,  to  be  nourished  in  our  alms- 
houses  or  prisons.  Criminals,  who,  instead  of 
being  transported  to  Botany  Bay,  are  sent  to 
America.  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  European 
governments  have  furnished  passports  and  means 
to  their  refuse  and  pestilential  population  to  emi- 
grate to  the  United  States.  Recently  a  few  of 
these  were  sent  back  from  Boston,  but  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  remain.  It  was  never  the 
intention  of  the  founders  of  our  government  to 
make  citizens  out  of  criminals  or  to  invest  such 
with  the  glorious,  but  in  vile  hands,  dangerous 
right  of  suffrage,  when  they  adopted  our  Natu- 
ralization laws. 

Those  enactments  were  adapted  to  the  then 
existing  state  of  things,  to  the  nature  of  the 
times  and  the  character  of  the  men  of  that  age, 


BY    THIS    ORGANIZATION.  69 

and  while  we  readily  grant  that  they  were  then 
wise,  just,  and  patriotic ;  the  times  and  the  peo- 
ple for  whose  benefit  they  were  intended,  are  so 
altered  that  there  is  no  longer  that  adaptation 
which  existed  at  that  period.  We  cannot  be  so 
unjust  to  the  memory  of  those  noble  patriots  as 
to  entertain  for  a  moment  the  idea,  that  if  they 
were  to  legislate  now  upon  the  subject  they  would 
adopt  the  same  provisions.  No  !  it  would  be  a 
libel  on  their  wisdom,  their  patriotism,  and  their 
statesmanship,  to  maintain  that,  if  living,  they 
would  leave  these  laws  unaltered. 

There  are  in  all  wisely  constituted  govern- 
ments, some  elementary  principles  which  are 
permanent  and  admit  of  no  change,  while  there 
are  laws  and  regulations  which  are  not  immuta- 
ble, but  must  undergo  modifications  to  suit  the 
necessities  of  the  age,  or  the  advanced  condition 
of  the  nation.  And  while  we  regard  the  prin- 
ciples which  make  this  land  a  home  for  the 
oppressed,  as  immutably  fixed  and  perpetual 
elements  in  the  charter  of  liberty,  we  resolutely 
maintain,  that  the  laws  relating  to  citizenship 
must  in  the  very  nature  of  things  be  subject  to 
such  reformations  as  the  emergencies  which  do 
arise  may  dictate,  as  best  suited  to  promote  our 
prosperity  and  happiness.  It  is  as  clear  as  a 
sunbeam  to  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of 
this  country,  that  the  time  has  fully  come  when 
the  safety,  the  peace,  and  the  perpetuity  of  this 
Union  demand  the  change  already  indicated. 


70  THE    OBJECTS    AIMED    AT 

There  are  persons  who  object  to  a  change  in 
these  statutes  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be 
unjust  and  oppressive  to  the  better  class  of  im- 
migrants, to  exclude  them  for  a  long  period  from 
the  rights  of  citizenship,  because  some  of  their 
number  are  in  an  unfit  state  for  such  privileges. 
To  this  objection,  I  reply  that  it  is  not  oppressive 
or  unjust  to  guard  the  rights  and  blessings  of  the 
whole  even  if  such  a  measure  would  in  some 
instances  seem  to  aggrieve  the  individual.  It  is  the 
duty  of  every  member  of  this  great  commonwealth 
of  freemen,  whether  fully  invested  or  not  with 
the  prerogatives  of  a  citizen,  to  sacrifice  his  per- 
sonal good  for  the  good  of  the  public,  if  the  case 
is  such  that  one  or  the  other  must  suffer. 

If,  therefore,  the  objection  were  founded  in' 
fact,  the  individual  himself  so  aggrieved  would 
by  his  complaint  clearly  establish  his  unfitness 
for  the  privilege  for  which  he  contends,  because 
he  is  destitute  of  patriotism  if  he  is  unwilling  to 
surrender  what  he  conceives  a  personal  benefit, 
for  the  greater  advantage  of  the  public.  But 
the  objection  is  destitute  of  truth.  What  claim 
has  a  foreigner  upon  our  government?  None 
whatever,  except  those  of  humanity  or  such  as 
international  law  gives  him.  But  who  would 
have  the  presumption  to  maintain  that  the  in- 
stincts of  humanity  make  it  the  duty  of  govern- 
ment to  invest  him  with  all  the  immunities  of 
citizenship,  before  the  judgment  of  the  nation 


BY    THIS    ORGANIZATION.  71 

should  pronounce  him  qualified?  The  obliga- 
tions which  humanity  imposes  are  more  than 
met  and  discharged  when  we  give  him  a  place 
and  a  habitation,  and  extend  over  his  person  and 
his  property  the  shield  of  our  laws,  that  he  may 
be  secure  in  all  his  interests  as  a  man.  In  many 
instances  these  men  never  enjoyed  the  right  of 
suffrage  in  their  native  land,  and  hence  there 
can  be  no  sacrifice  on  their  part  if  denied  the 
privilege  of  voting  for  a  longer  term  of  years,' 
because  they  never  were  in  possession  of  the  right 
anywhere,  and  therefore  could  not  surrender  it. 
There  are  numerous  other  and  weighty  reasons 
which  may  be  urged  for  a  change  in  the  laws 
relating  to  this  subject.  It  may  be  successfully 
urged  that  persons  reared  on  a  foreign  soil,  fre- 
quently with  little  or  no  mental  culture  when 
they  arrive  here,  cannot  possibly  possess  the 
needful  qualifications  of  citizenship  after  the 
few  years'  residence  which  is  now  the  only  con- 
dition. It  is  not  unreasonable  to  maintain  that 
even  a  residence  of  fifteen  or  more  years  is 
absolutely  essential  in  most  instances  before  a 
man  can  vote  intelligently.  Granted  that  a  few 
are  educated,  yet  their  ideas  of  government  have 
been  formed  under  such  adverse  circumstances, 
that  their  opinions  need  to  be  recast  before  they 
could  intelligently  participate  in  public  affairs. 
Others  have  no  intellectual  culture  whatever, 
and  have  such  occupations,  tendencies,  and  im- 


72  THE    OBJECTS    AIMED    AT 

pulses  that  they  do  none  of  their  own  thinking, 
nor  are  their  votes  governed  by  a  conviction  of 
the  excellence  of  the  men  and  measures  they 
support.  It  is  no  disparagement  to  them  to 
assume  this  fact:  the  same  might  be  equally  true 
of  Americans  in  reversed  circumstances.  That 
our  adopted  population  is  guided  by  the  will  of 
others  can  be  easily  demonstrated,  nay  we  have 
ocular  demonstration  of  it  at  every  election. 
They  move  in  a  mass,  they  vote  in  the  same  way, 
think  alike,  and  act  alike,  thus  giving  conclusive 
evidence  that  they  are  the  pliant  instruments  of 
subtle  politicians,  or  the  obedient  executioners 
of  the  will  of  their  spiritual  superiors,  "Where 
the  priest  uses  no  influence,  which  is  rarely  the 
case,  they  barter  their  votes  to  the  highest 
bidder.  The  man  who  can  present  the  most 
magnificent  promises  which  he  never  intends  to 
fulfil,  or  minister  most  abundantly  to  their  ap- 
petites, he  is  their  man.  If  I  were  disposed  to 
record  scenes  which  carne  under  my  observation 
where  this  foreign  vote  has  been  cast  without 
intelligence  or  will  on  their  part,  I  could  multiply 
most  shameful  abuses  of  the  right  of  suffrage. 
'  A  change  in  our  Naturalization  laws  is  abso- 
lutely demanded  by  considerations  of  our  safety. 
It  is  an  incontrovertible  fact,  that  a  large  majority 
of  these  foreigners  range  themselves  under  the 
banner  of  socialism,  of  freethinkers,  or  Jesuits. 
All  these  classes  are  hostile  to  the  interests  of 


BY    THIS    ORGANIZATION.  73 

this  land.  Their  principles  are  in  conflict  with 
those  of  a  sound  morality,  and  subversive  of 
civil  government.  Their  peculiarities  and  their 
designs  will  be  more  fully  unfolded  as  we  pro- 
gress in  this  discussion ;  at  present,  I  will  only 
state  that  their  numerical  strength  is  such  as  to 
inspire  the  thoughtful  with  apprehensions  for 
our  safety.  A  writer  from  the  "West  recently 
stated  in  a  communication  to  a  leading  periodi- 
cal, that  in  a  certain  city  there  are  60,000  Ger- 
mans, and  an  equal  number  of  Irish  in  a  popu- 
lation of  200,000.  These,  though  divided  in 
their  religious  sentiments,  manifest  a  singular 
unanimity  in  their  hostility  to  all  the  leading 
interests  of  America.  Suffer  this  influx  of 
foreigners  to  continue  for  ten  years,  and  clothe 
them  as  rapidly  as  they  arrive  on  our  shores  with 
the  right  of  suffrage,  and  no  man  may  predict 
the  result.  Certain  it  is  that  the  Catholic  power 
joined  with  those  who  are  hostile  to  the  Bible, 
to  the  Sabbath,  and  to  public  schools,  could  ere 
long  place  it  beyond  the  power  of  Americans  to 
control  the  government  of  this  land.  It  would 
inevitably  pass  under  foreign  rule,  or  if  a  native 
citizen  should  hold  the  reins  of  government,  he 
would  be  subject  to  the  dictation  of  this  very 
material. 

The  reflecting  and  more  sterling  part  of  both 
the  great  political  parties,  have  long  seen  and  de- 
plored the  subserviency  of  their  prominent  men 
7 


74  THE    OBJECTS    AIMED    AT 

and  leaders  to  the  foreign  element.  The  people 
waited  patiently  and  long  for  such  independent 
and  patriotic  action  on  the  part  of  our  legislators 
as  would  keep  these  intruders  in  their  appro- 
priate position  and  rid  the  country  of  those 
abuses  in  our  government  which  have  grown 
out  pf  the  Naturalization  laws  in  their  present 
form,  but  their  expectations  were  disappointed. 
Indeed,  all  hope  of  remedying  these  evils  through 
the  old  parties  was  relinquished,  for  aspirants  to 
official  stations  were  too  anxious  to  conciliate 
the  good  will  and  secure  the  votes  of  foreigners, 
even  to  propose  a  modification  of  these  laws. 

There  was  therefore  no  other  alternative  but 
to  break  loose  from  party  restraints  and  unite  as 
Americans  to  resist  foreign  aggression,  by 
choosing  their  own  men  without  the  aid  of  con- 
gressmen or  demagogues,  and  electing  them  to 
office.  It  is  the  only  way  in  which  the  proposed 
change  can  be  accomplished.  And  it  is  their 
only  safety,  and  therefore  they  wisely  determined 
to  seek  out  the  most  competent  men  for  rulers. 
If  we  look  at  the  men  who  have  recently  been 
elected  to  responsible  stations,  we  cannot  but 
admire  the  sound  judgment  which  was  exercised 
in  their  nomination  and  election.  The  Mayors 
of  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  are  sterling  men, 
eminently  fitted  to  assist  in  creating  a  sound 
public  sentiment,  and  to  originate  and  carry  out 
measures  that  will  elevate  and  strengthen  our 
social  system. 


BY    THIS    ORGANIZATION.  75 

As  in  reference  to  all  the  other  objects  which 
the  American  party  proposes  to  accomplish,  so 
also  against  this  has  the  cry  of  proscription  been 
raised ;  but  as  I  shall  have  occasion  to  examine 
this  subject  more  thoroughly  in  my  reply  to  the 
letter  of  the  Hon.  H.  A.  Wise,  I  will  then  weigh 
the  merit  of  this  charge  and  dispose  of  it  as  it 
deserves. 

But  another  object  of  this  organization  is  to 
cultivate  and  promote  true  patriotism.  This 
exalted  object,  in  the  estimation  of  the  wisest 
statesmen  and  most  renowned  philosophers,  can 
only  be  attained  by  a  well-digested  system  of 
popular  education.  Such  a  system  must  not  be 
purely  intellectual,  but  also  moral.  While  they 
do  not  presume  to  imitate  the  arrogance  of  the 
papists  by  setting  themselves  up  as  intolerant 
dictators  of  the  faith  of  these  millions,  they 
would  yet  insist  on  such  a  course  of  instruction 
in  our  public  schools  as  will  improve  the  intel- 
lect, while  it  inspires  the  hearts  of  the  young 
with  sentiments  of  Christian  morality.  We  are 
a  Christian  nation,  so  recognized  by  others,  and 
so  regarded  by  the  ablest  statesmen  that  our 
country  has  produced.  And  how  is  this  char- 
acter of  the  nation  to  be  perpetuated — by  what 
means  is  this  feature  to  be  kept  alive  ?  Mani- 
festly by  the  means  employed  in  the  education 
of  the  young.  Our  children  are  to  be  the  future 
citizens  and  rulers  of  this  great  country,  and  if 


76  THE    OBJECTS    AIMED    AT 

the  principles  which  we  now  cherish  and  the 
national  Christian  sentiments  are  to  be  perpetu- 
ated, the  seed  must  be  sown  in  the  minds  of  the 
young. 

The  conservators  of  the  public  morals  are 
sometimes  admonished  by  those  politicians  who 
have  arrogated  to  themselves  the  sole  right  to 
mould  public  opinion,  not  to  pass  from  the 
sphere  of  their  appropriate  office  by  venturing 
an  opinion  concerning  political  or  educational 
measures.  These  gentlemen  impose  the  respon- 
sibility upon  the -clerg}',  and  others,  to  keep  clear 
the  current  of  popular  feeling;  but  why  com- 
mand that  class  of  men  to  filter  the  waters  of 
the  foul  stream,  and  not  exercise  the  necessary 
precaution  to  keep  the  fountain  pure.  The  pub- 
lic schools  are  indeed  the  true  fountains  of  our 
national  life.  If  corrupting  influences  are  at 
work  there,  the  nation  will  soon  have  flowing 
through  all  its  vast  channels  those  vitiating 
elements,  and  through  all  its  vast  proportions 
the  blighting  power  of  corrupt  sentiments  will 
be  felt.  The  American  party  would  not  make 
the  public  school  a  nursery  for  sectarianism,  nor 
introduce  into  it  text-books  of  a  denominational 
cast  of  doctrine ;  but  they  will  maintain  with  the 
fathers  of  this  land,  that  the  Bible  is  not  secta- 
rian, that  it  is  designed  for  all  mankind,  that  it 
contains  the  best  morality,  the  loftiest  wisdom, 
the  noblest  examples  for  youth  to  copy,  and 


BY    THIS    ORGANIZATION.  77 

inculcates  those  virtues  which  exalt  the  indi- 
vidual and  the  nation,  and  is  therefore  the  Book 
which  ought  to  be  read  without  note  or  com- 
ment in  our  schools ;  and  they  are  constrained 
to  regard  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  reading 
of  the  Scriptures  in  the  schools  as  alike  the 
enemies  of  our  Republic  and  of  God.  Its  vast 
historical  stores  enrich  the  mind  of  the  child 
as  no  other  book  can.  Its  unexplored  and 
unfathomable  depths  have  gems  of  wisdom  far 
more  brilliant  than  those  which  have  shone  in 
the  works  of  the  most  distinguished  philoso- 
phers. Eloquence,  poetry,  narrative,  literature 
and  morality  such  as  we  find  nowhere  else.  "  It 
is  the  Book  of  Books  —  its  author,  God  —  its 
theme  heaven,  eternity."  To  shut  out  the  youth 
from  this  mine  of  intellectual  and  moral  wealth 
would  be  tyranny  of  the  worst  form  —  this  a 
PROSCRIPTION  that  might  be  mourned  in  the 
crash  of  a  falling  republic,  and  cursed  in  the 
funeral  dirge  of  a  nation  of  freemen. 

They  would  morever  be  judicious  in  the  selec- 
tion of  such  other  books  as  may  be  necessary  to 
imbue  the  youthful  mind  with  healthy  patriotic 
sentiments ;  but  they  would  not  consent  to  have 
pages  expunged,  because  there  may  be  a  chapter 
on  Luther  and  the  Reformation,  or  because 
another  contains  the  speech  of  "William  Pitt,  as 
has  been  done  through  Popish  influence.  There 
are  books  now  in  existence  that  have  been  thus 
7* 


78  THE    OBJECTS    AIMED    AT 

mutilated,  to  gratify  these  uneasy  persons.  And 
there  existed  no  conscientious  objection  to  these 
parts ;  and  that  it  was  done  for  a  different  object, 
has  been  proved  by  a  committee  who  visited  the 
Romish  schools  and  discovered  those  very  books 
in  use  without  any  of  those  changes. 

If,  then,  we  would  sum  up  the  objects  for  which 
this  organization  is  contending,  we  would  find 
that  their  efforts  are  directed  to  a  reformation  of 
existing  evils,  and  the  promotion  of  pure  patriot- 
ism. They  are  laboring  to  effect  precisely  what 
the  purest  and  ablest  men  among  Democrats 
and  "Whigs  regard  as  patriotic  and  worthy  ob- 
jects of  legislation.  The  leading  political  organs 
—  for  example,  the  Washington  Union  —  have 
so  far  admitted  the  correctness  of  the  views  of 
the  new  order  in  regard  to  the  Naturalization 
laws,  as  to  say,  that  if  the  general  sentiment  of 
the  people  should  demand  a  modification  of 
those  laws,  the  requirement  should  be  conceded 
by  the  general  government.  Such  an  intima- 
tion has  been  thrown  out  by  leading  periodicals, 
and  is  now  on  the  wing,  and  will  soon  be  echoed 
through  the  land.  But  whether  it  was  uttered 
with  sincerity,  or  designed  simply  as  a  soporific 
to  those  in  the  ranks  who  were  waking  up  to 
the  importance  of  the  measure  promulgated  by 
the  American  party,  it  is  not  my  office  to  decide ; 
still,  it  wears  a. doubtful  aspect,  and  even  if  such 
are  their  present  views,  it  seems  like  an  attempt 
to  steal  the  thunder  of  the  new  order.  ">  • 


BY    THIS    ORGANIZATION.  79 

And  as  to  the  other  objects  contemplated  by 
the  organization,  they  will  be  found,  upon  exa- 
mination, truly  American  in  sentiment  and  spirit 
—  they  are  thought  to  be  exalted  and  worthy, 
— blending  with  all  the  great  interests  of  a  free 
people,  and  fitted  to  strengthen  and  perpetuate 
our  glorious  institutions.  What  American  heart 
could  wish  any  of  our  privileges  jeoparded  or 
subverted  by  foreign  influence  ?  "Who  would 
not  break  through  the  trammels  of  party,  and 
with  heart  and  mind  assist  in  breaking  the  snares 
which  have  been  laid  to  bind  and  destroy  this 
nation  ?  Who  that  feels  the  stirrings  of  a  noble 
spirit,  that  appreciates  and  glories  in  the  bless- 
ings purchased  by  the  blood  of  our  venerated 
sires,  would  falter  or  hesitate  when  called  upon 
to  defend  and  preserve  the  bulwarks  of  freedom  ? 
It  is  not  to  inflict  a  wrong  upon  foreigners  — 
not  to  injure  a  hair  upon  the  head  of  the  most 
devout  papist,  or  any  other  citizen,  that  Ameri- 
cans are  summoned  to  the  scene  of  conflict  — 
but  to  rear  a  wall  of  living  hearts  around  our 
glorious  confederacy,  and  avert  those  crushing 
calamities  which  are  now  impending.  The  true 
patriot  would  turn  back  the  tide  of  corruption 
that  threatens  desolation  to  his  land  —  he  would 
hold  back  the  iron  hand  that  is  read}7  to  grasp 
the  helm  of  government.  He  looks  with  a  calm 
eye,  and  with  an  unquailing  spirit,  upon  the 
storm  of  passion  which  has  been  rolling  up  its 


80        THE    OBJECTS    AIMED    AT,     ETC. 

dark  masses  and  marshalling  its  artillery  for  an 
onset  upon  the  citadel  of  Liberty ;  for  he  knows 
that  the  voice  of  Americans,  as  it  will  thunder 
from  the  ballot-hox,  will  disperse  these  water- 
less clouds  in  our  civil  firmament,  and  our  sun 
of  prosperity  will  bathe  the  land  of  "Washington 
with  a  quiet  glory  all  the  more  brilliant,  because 
in  contrast  with  the  retiring  gloom. 

They  are  noble  objects  for  which  the  new 
party  toils,  objects  which  have  in  view  the  peace, 
harmony  and  stability  of  this  Union  —  and  hearts 
true  to  the  altars  of  their  country,  and  the  glory 
of  the  nation,  will  arise  to  vindicate  her  honor, 
and  herald  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  the  decree 
of  our  fathers,  that  no  other  flag  but  that 
of  the  stars  and  stripes  shall  float  over  American 
soil,  as  long  as  the  originals  of  those  on  our  en- 
sign shall  flame  in  the  quiet  heavens  above. 


THE    NECESSITY    OF,    ETC.  81 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  NECESSITY  OF   SUCH  AN  ORGANIZA- 
TION EXAMINED 

AN  association  of  honorable  men  invariably 
presupposes  the  existence  of  an  emergency  or 
want  at  the  time  of  its  formation  which  it  is  in- 
tended to  meet.  Indeed  we  can  only  vindicate 
the  propriety  of  keeping  up  any  organization  on 
the  ground  that  it  subserves  a  good  purpose. 
Does  this  new  party  provide  for  any  wants  in 
the  social  state  heretofore  neglected?  Does  it 
propose  the  advocacy  and  the  carrying  out  of 
such  principles  as  will  prove  beneficial  to  the 
public?  These  questions  we  shall  attempt  to 
answer.  The  question  has  frequently  been 
asked,  why  organize  an  American  party,  when 
the  old  parties  could  so  modify  or  enlarge  their 
platform  as  to  admit  any  new  principle  that 
might  be  deemed  necessary  to  accomplish  the 
ends  which  the  new  one  promises  to  effect  ?  But  I 
reply  that  there  is  much  in  the  old  organizations 
to  constitute  a  necessity  for  an  entirely  new 
order.  We  readily  grant  that  the  originators 
of  the  two  leading  political  parties  were  honora- 


82  THE    NECESSITY    OF    SUCH 

ble  men  and  useful  citizens  —  honest  in  their 
convictions,  and  acting  from  principle,  not  from 
impulse.  They  ranged  themselves  under  the 
different  banners  according  to  their  predilections 
for  one  or  the  other  form  of  national  policy 
proposed.  So  that  the  parties  sprang  from  that 
difference  in  sentiment  in  relation  to  great  poli- 
tical measures  which  good  citizens  are  bound  to 
respect.  Doubtless  sincere  in  their  convictions 
and  honest  in  their  exertions  to  gain  the  mastery 
in  their  conflicts,  the  one  would  acquire  the 
ascendency  over  the  other  in  proportion  as  their 
respective  measures  were  popular  or  unpopular 
with  the  masses.  But  however  well  they  sub- 
served the  purposes  contemplated  at  the  time 
of  their  organization,  and  however  much  both 
contributed  to  the  prosperity  of  the  country, 
and  to  the  advancement  of  the  great  interests 
of  a  free  nation,  they  have  long  since,  like  all 
humanly  devised  things,  given  unmistakable 
signs  of  corruption.  Political  organizations  need 
repairing,  and  sometimes  reconstruction,  just  as 
much  as  any  other  structure  of  which  man  is 
the  author.  Sometimes  the  building  lacks  a 
good  foundation,  or  if  it  be  of  long  standing, 
the  dry-rot  may  so  impair  its  timbers  as  to  ren- 
der it  unsafe  for  those  whom  it  was  designed  to 
shelter.  Now  whether  it  was  owing  to  a  doubt- 
ful foundation,  to  the  dry  or  wet-rot,  I  do  not 
affirm ;  but  this  is  certain,  that  many  of  their 


I 

AN  ORGANIZATION  EXAMINED.   83 

inmates  were  seriously  impressed  that  their  safety 
and  the  security  of  those  great  interests  they 
were  intended  to  protect,  were  endangered,  and 
therefore  fled  from  the  tottering  structures  to  a 
new  refuge.  This  impulse  of  self-preservation 
has  sadly  reduced  these  old  families ;  and  while 
I  would  not  appear  officious  in  giving  advice,  it 
strikes  me,  as  "  discretion  is  the  better  part  of 
valor,"  that  those  who  continue  faithful  to  the 
old  structures  had  better  cease  scolding  their 
friends  who  have  withdrawn,  and  institute  a 
thorough  examination  of  the  materials  to  which 
they  trust  their  all,  and  save  themselves,  if  not 
their  edifice,  from  ruin.  These  two  political 
structures  may  not  have  suffered  so  much  from 
the  storms  and  tempests  which  have  swept  our 
land,  but  even  the  long  and  burning  rays  of  the 
sun  of  prosperity  have  no  doubt  seriously  warped 
and  otherwise  damaged  many  of  their  timbers — 
so  that  while  here  and  there  you  may  find  a 
block  not  moss-grown,  or  a  beam  that  has 
escaped  the  rot,  there  are  doubtless  many 
darkly  shaded,  while  others  are  alive  with 
vermin,  or  have  become  the  refuge  of  the  moles 
and  bats. 

The  most  careless  observer  of  passing  events 
must  have  known,  that  for  a  number  of  years 
there  has  been- a  most  shameful  prostitution  of 
valuable  time  to  political  intrigue  and  corrup- 
tion. The  whole  year  prior  to  the  nomination 


84  THE    NECESSITY    OF    SUCH 

for  the  Presidency,  Congress  has  been  a  scene 
of  conflict  between  rival  expectants  or  their 
friends,  to  the  neglect  of  public  business,  and 
not  unfrequently  to  the  detriment  of  good  man- 
ners and  morals.  Every  speech,  whatever  its 
ostensible  object  may  have  been,  was  burdened 
with  this  absorbing  theme,  this  one  idea,  until 
the  whole  land  was  thrown  into  a  furor,  and  the 
desire  came  up  from  the  humblest,  as  well  as  the 
most  exalted,  that  the  assembled  wisdom  of  the 
nation  might  disperse  and  quiet  be  restored. 
The  people,  though  they  "  don't  know,"  as  well 
as  politicians  —  the  people  began  to  think  that 
their  money  might  be  more  profitably  spent,  and 
their  wishes  more  legitimately  carried  out,  if 
these  gentlemen  were  occupied  in  such  legisla- 
tion as  would  promote  the  interests  of  com- 
merce, of  agriculture,  of  manufactures,  of  edu- 
cation, and  such  other  things  as  might  form 
appropriate  objects  for  the  consideration  of  their 
representatives.  Buncomb  speeches  and  occa- 
sional fights  are  perhaps  well  enough,  just  as 
bull-fights  are  in  Spain,  if  the  public  taste  cor- 
responds with  such  amusements;  but  "not 
knowing"  any  better,  the  people  were  rather 
disgusted  than  pleased,  and  spoke  to  each  other 
about  reform.  Another  thing  seemed  to  occa- 
sion a  difficulty  to  their  minds— «- they  had  been 
accustomed  to  hear  themselves  called  "  the  dear 
people,"  "my  fellow-citizens;"  but  somehow  or 


AN    ORGANIZATION    EXAMINED.        85 

other,  these  officials  soon  forgot  those  endearing 
relations  after  they  had  received  their  votes. 
They  were  also  called  the  sovereigns,  in  whom 
the  powers  of  government  resided ;  but  it  seem- 
ed, after  all,  that  they  had  but  little  to  do  in 
electing  rulers.  The  caucus  at  "Washington 
decided  the  choice  of  the  Presidential  candidate, 
and  this  once  fixed,  he  was  labelled  for  the  conven- 
tion, and  from  thence  sent  out  through  the  land, 
and  the  adherents  of  the  party  whipped  into  his 
support.  The  people,  though  they  "  did  not 
know,"  began  to  think  that  it  would  be  more 
honorable,  and  would  make  it  possible  to  give 
their  support  to  the  man  of  their  choice,  if  the 
custom  of  President-making  at  Washington 
were  abolished,  and  the  business  of  nominating 
a  candidate  for  this  high  office  were  left  to  the 
delegates  sent  up  to  a  convention  by  the  people. 
Believing  that  this  evil  had  attained  to  such  a 
growth  in  both  the  leading  parties  that  it  could 
not  be  remedied  by  remaining  in  connection 
with  them,  they  concluded  to  exercise  their  so- 
vereignty in  such  a  way  as  would  effectually 
remove  the  wrong  which  they  felt.  The  noble 
Clay  had  been  sacrificed  at  a  period  when  he 
might  have  been  triumphantly  elevated  to  the 
chair  of  State;  and  the  venerable  Cass,  and 
others  in  both,  parties,  among  whom  were  the 
most  eminent  statesmen  and  purest  patriots, 
were  immolated  on  the  altar  of  faction,  and 


86  THE    NECESSITY    OF    SUCH 

made  the  victims  of  political  intrigue,  while 
men  of  moderate  capacities,  almost  wholly  des- 
titute of  the  necessary  qualifications,  and  with 
no  merit  as  statesmen,  were  preferred. 

But  it  is  not  my  intention  to  specify  to  any 
great  extent,  the  various  and  deep-seated  cor- 
ruptions which  had  gained  the  mastery  over 
patriotism  in  the  old  organizations.  There  was 
scarcely  a  redeeming  trait  left  in  the  character 
of  those  who  ruled  the  old  wigwams.  It  will 
be  seen  that  they  put  a  price  upon  every  aspirant 
to  office,  and  the  great  objects  that  ought  to  be 
influential  in  the  choice  of  rulers  were  entirely 
lost  sight  of  amid  the  dark  corruptions  which 
prevailed. 

Whatever  good  the  Whigs  and  Democrats 
may  have  done  in  former  days,  it  was  high  time 
that  an  organization  standing  in  immediate  con- 
nection with  the  people  should  arise  to  vindicate 
our  character  and  to  rid  the  country  of  these 
abuses.  Let  us  bring  briefly  under  review  some 
of  the  means  which  were  employed  to  carry  out 
their  measures,  and  to  secure  their  ends.  It  is 
a  notorious  fact,  that  the  most  barefaced  corrup- 
tion was  practised — every  state  committee  and 
vigilance  committee  was  freely  supplied  with 
money  to  promote  the  success  of  the  party.  The 
candidates  for  office  were  expected  to  contribute 
an  assessed  sum,  and  every  good  member  of  the 
fraternity,  and  particularly  every  expectant  of 


AN    ORGANIZATION    EXAMINED.        87 

future  favors  from  the  party  dare  not  withhold 
his  material  aid,  for  the  furtherance  of  the  inte- 
rests of  the  party.  In  the  State  of  Maryland, 
prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitution, 
votes  were  sold  in  some  places  at  public  auction, 
and  since  this  open  prostitution  of  the  noblest 
right  of  a  citizen  is  not  allowed,  the  same  is 
carried  on  secretly. 

During  an  election  a  year  ago,  a  certain  class 
of  men  were  loitering  around  the  polls,  and 
being  asked,  Have  you  voted?  They  replied, 
]S"o  !  our  rent  is  not  paid ;  or,  I  need  some  flour, 
and  can't  vote  until  the  rent  is  paid,  or  the  flour 
procured.  Of  course  these  rents  are  always  paid, 
and  these  other  demands  all  met  before  the  polls 
are  closed.  Is  it  not  humiliating  to  a  truly 
American  spirit  to  witness  such  scenes,  and  is 
not  the  honor  which  attaches  to  official  station 
of  a  doubtful  character,  when  procured  not  by 
the  intellectual  or  moral  worth  of  the  candidate, 
but  for  certain  considerations  agreed  upon  by 
the  parties.  Hence  one  of  the  most  important 
items  in  the  character  of  an  aspirant  is  the 
amount  of  available  means  which  he  can  bring 
with  him  into  the  field.  Napoleon  once  said — 
"that  every  man  had  his  price,"  and  while  we 
believe  that  many  of  our  fellow-citizens  would 
spurn  the  man  and  his  impious  bribes,  there  are 
victims  of  ambition  who  can  be  bought  and  sold 
like  asses.  Is  it  not  high  time  to  reform  this 


88  THE    NECESSITY    OF    SUCH 

abuse  ?  Do  we  not  owe  it  to  the  memory  of 
those  distinguished  and  great  departed  men, 
who  founded  this  empire  of  Liberty,  as  well  as 
to  our  own  character,  to  purge  away  this  foul 
stain  ? 

To  corroborate  the  foregoing  statement  of  the 
deep-seated  corruption  in  the  political  world,  I 
might  quote  the  declarations  of  the  leading 
papers  of  both  political  parties.  Let  us  hear 
what  a  few  of  these  say.  A  New  York  editor, 
commenting  upon  the  recent  election  in  that 
state,  says :  "  More  people  were  disappointed 
and  grieved,  than  were  pleased  with  the  result 
of  the  election  last  week.  It  comes  to  pass  that 
a  governor  is  chosen  by  less  than  one-third  of 
the  people,  and  to  whom  more  than  two-thirds 
are  opposed."  The  Albany  Register  holds  the 
following  language  in  the  issue  of  November  9. 

"  There  was  never  in  a  country  with  a  free 
constitution,  such  utter  tyranny  as  has  existed 
in  this  State  for  the  last  twenty-five  years.  A 
tyranny  that  was  just  as  potential  in  the  sup- 
pression of  popular  sentiment,  that  controlled 
the  political  action  of  men  just  as  effectually,  as 
would  a  decree  of  the  Russian  Czar  the  senti- 
ment or  action  of  his  serfs.  The  instrumentalities 
by  which  that  tyranny  was  supported  too  were 
of  the  vilest  kind.  The  great  motor  was  the 
primary  meetings,  and  these  had  come  to  be 
made  up  in  the  main,  of  the  vilest  and  most 


AN    ORGANIZATION    EXAMINED.        89 

worthless  people,  in  our  cities  especially — men 
that  were  never  seen  except  on  the  recurrence 
of  those  meetings,  and  possibly  on  the  days  of 
election ;  men  who  were  fished  up  for  the  pur- 
pose from  the  stews  of  debauchery,  from  the 
grog-shops  and  filthy  alleys;  men  of  violence 
and  disorder,  steaming  with  licentiousness  and 
shouting  blasphemies.  "With  such  a  class  decent 
men  would  not  associate  in  the  primary  meetings, 
and  as  a  consequence  did  not  frequent  them. 
Yet  just  such  men,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  controlled 
nominations,  and  dictated  as  to  who  should  be 
our  public  officers.  Everybody  knew  this.  Po- 
litical knaves  gloried  in  it  because  it  was  the 
basis  of  their  power.  Yet  such  was  the  degree 
of  moral  courage  required  to  break  up  such  a 
stupendous  system  of  corruption,  that  few  would 
venture  upon  the  experiment.  Those  who.  did 
thus  venture  were  set  upon  and  hunted  down. 
The  same  vile  instruments,  the  same  despicable 
pack  that  controlled  the  primary  elections,  were 
let  loose  upon  any  man  who  ventured  to  question 
the  potency  of  caucus  dictation,  and  like  hungry 
hounds  were  put  upon  his  trail,  and  they  followed 
him  with  open  mouths  and  ravenous  jaws  until 
his  influence  was  utterly  destroyed,  and  he  was 
worried  into  submission  or  political  death." 

The  New  York  Observer  in  commenting  upon 
this  language,  remarks — "  This  is  not  a  confes- 
sion or  complaint  of  one  party  only.     It  is  not 
8* 


90  THE    NECESSITY    OF    SUCH 

denied  that  the  same  abuses  have  become  com- 
mon to  all  political  parties  of  this  country  at  the 
present  day,  —  that  the  abuses  have  become 
intolerable  and  ought  to  be  redressed.  The 
Reform  Committee,  on  the  eve  of  the  late  elec- 
tion, put  forth  a  circular  stating  the  means  by 
which  nominations  are  obtained,  and  disclosing 
a  degree  of  profligacy  that  fairly  causes  a  shudder, 
when  we  think  that  our  lives  and  property  are 
in  the  hands  of  men  thus  foisted  into  high  office. 
After  exposing  the  bribery  and  corruption  be- 
tween candidates  of  opposite  parties  in  different 
wards,  who  sell  to  each  other  the  votes  of  their 
friends  at  the  primary  meetings,  where  Whigs 
vote  in  Democratic  boxes,  and  vice  versa,  the 
committee  proceeds  to  say : 

"  Under  this  system  of  Primary  Elections,  there 
have  grown  up  a  large  class  of  men  known  in 
the  slang  of  the  city  as  'suckers'  and  'strikers.' 
The  'strikers'  are  a  bold  class  of  marauders, 
who  '  come  down '  upon  a  candidate  for  a  place, 
and  demand  of  him  money,  with  threats  that  if 
he  does  not  give  it,  they  will  be  down  upon  him 
in  the  Primary  Elections,  or  in  the  Nominating 
Conventions, — and  who  generally  frighten  timid 
or  corrupt  men  into  pay.  These  '  strikers '  and 
'  suckers '  make  it  their  trade  to  get  upon  the 
Nominating  Committee,  and  in  connection  with 
outside  forces,  they  generally  succeed.  The  man 
who  does  not  wish  to  be  known  as  taking  money 


AN    ORGANIZATION    EXAMINED.        91 

in  person,  puts  into' these  nominating  committees 
these  'strikers'  and  'suckers,'  and  they  noto- 
riously sell  their  votes  not  alone  to  the  highest 
bidder,  but  often  over  and  over  again  to  all  the 
bidders ;  and  hence  it  is  well  known  that  the 
Nominating  Committees  are  more  or  less  as 
marketable  as  cattle,  or  slaves  in  the  slave-pen 
—  not  for  one  sale,  however,  as  are  cattle  and 
slaves,  but  over  and  over  again,  at  the  same 
moment,  to  different  buyers,  according  as  they 
find  dupes  to  dupe,  or  aspirants  to  buy  them." 

This  and  much  more  of  the  same  sort  is  given 
as  an  exposition  of  New  York  politics.  The 
Courier  and  Enquirer  said  a  few  days  before 
their  recent  election — "We  have  it  from  Mr. 
Wood's  own  lips,  that  his  majority  is  to  be  at 
least  five  thousand,  and  that  he  is  in  a  position 
that  enables  him  to  put  his  enemies  at  defiance. 
In  his  own  strong  language,  he  might  even 
commit  a  murder  in  his  own  household  without 
endangering  his  success  at  the  polls  next  Tues- 
day." 

The  Evening  Post  of  nearly  the  same  date, 
according  to  the  N.  Y.  Observer,  says:  "His 
(Mr.  Wood's)  motives  for  making  the  extraordi- 
nary exertions  which  he  has  made,  and  for  en- 
countering the  obloquy  which  was  sure  to  follow 
his  nomination  for  the  office  of  Mayor,  if  cor- 
rectly communicated  to  us,  and  we  have  no  doubt 
they  were,  are  creditable  to  him,  and  aid  in  some 


92  THE    NECESSITY    OF    SUCH 

measure  to  reconcile  us  to  his  success.  He  felt 
oppressed  by  the  weight  of  suspicion  that  was 
resting  upon  his  character,  and  concluded  that  the 
best  way  to  be  relieved  was  to  set  to  work  and 
build  up  a  new  one."  There — that  may  be  suffi- 
cient for  the  present.  If  this  be  a  fair  represen- 
tation of  the  condition  of  the  old  parties,  no 
wonder  that  Mr.  Douglas  protested  so  strongly 
against  the  entering  of  the  New  England  cler- 
gymen into  the  "muddy  pools  of  politics." 
We  join  with  Mr.  Douglas  in  this  protest,  though 
we  should  rejoice  if  these  divines  could  exert 
some  purifying  charm  upon  "  these  dirty  pools," 
and  change  them  into  pure  fountains.  Alas ! 
what  acknowledged  degeneracy  in  these  once 
pure  organizations !  Who  can  look  upon  their 
fall  without  sincere  regret  ?  and  who  that  has  a 
spark  of  patriotism  within  him  but  earnestly 
longs  for  their  purification  ? 

But  the  purity,  the  rectitude  and  honorable 
course  of  action  of  former  days  can  only  be 
restored  by  a  new  organization,  in  which  no  cor- 
rupt or  unworthy  principle  shall  be  tolerated. 
There  are  enough  pure  men  in  both  the  old 
parties  to  form  a  new  one  that  will  not  sanction 
such  abuses.  And  we  have  entirely  misappre- 
hended the  elements  of  character  in  those  who 
compose  the  American  party,  if  they  would  not 
indignantly  spurn  from  their  ranks  such  as  would 
inflict  a  stain  upon  the  national  honor  by  such 


AN  ORGANIZATION  EXAMINED.   93 

abuses  as  those  to  which  I  have  already  referred. 
.  No !  we  trust  that  if  an  unworthy  member  does 
occasionally  appear,  he  will  be  instantly  removed, 
for  by  this  means  alone  will  they  be  able  to  bring 
back  those  ancient  but  stern  virtues,  which  shone 
in  the  characters  of  our  fathers,  and  were  justly 
the  glory  of  the  American  people.  They  will 
select  those  for  rulers  who  are  properly  qualified, 
and  whose  instincts  are  truly  republican.  There 
has  been  already  too  much  corruption  among 
office-makers,  and  it  is  time  that  the  infamous 
business  of  buying  and  selling  should  be  stopped. 
The  people  have  too  long  endured  this  truckling 
to  a  foreign  power,  by  submitting  to  that  class 
of  men  spoken  of  above — and  they  desire  no 
more  exhibitions  of  sympathy  on  the  part  of 
venerable  Senators  for  the  Pope's  Nuncio.  They 
were  deeply  grieved  to  witness  the  efforts  of 
those  loaded  with  the  highest  honors  of  their 
country,  to  add  another  leaf  to  their  chaplets, 
and  that,  too,  of  foreign  growth,  by  their  defence 
of  the  brutal  and  infamous  Bedini.  "While  the 
American  party  will  doubtless  extend  to  all 
mankind  the  privilege  of  locating  among  us,  and 
of  enjoying  equal  rights  as  to  the  protection  of 
property  and  life,  they  will  not  suffer  the  exal- 
tation of  ambitious  foreigners  to  the  detriment 
of  American  citizens. 
It  is  therefore  manifest,  that  there  are  those 


94  THE    NECESSITY    OF    SUCH 

things  in  both  the  great  political  parties  which 
made  it  absolutely  essential  for  those  not  par- 
taking of  their  corruptions,  to  come  out  from 
among  them  and  exercise  their  rightful  indepen- 
dence in  the  choice  of  rulers.  A  large  number 
of  the  most  respectable  men  in  both  parties,  for 
years  past  refused  to  pronounce  the  shibboleth 
of  their  respective  organizations,  and  would  not 
support  nominees  irrespective  of  their  fitness. 
These  have  usually  made  selections  from  both 
tickets,  and  have  supported  those  whom  they 
considered  the  most  capable  and  worthy.  If 
their  former  friends  complain  of  the  new  order, 
if  they  are  confounded  and  irritated — if  they 
look  with  sad  hearts  upon  the  utter  ruin  of  their 
schemes,  and  deplore  the  extinguishment  of  their 
fond  hopes  concerning  some  of  their  idols — 
the  bitterest  of  all  reflections  associated  with 
their  defeats  is  that  they  have  dug  their  own 
graves,  and  must  now  sing  their  own  political 
funeral  dirge ! 

They  presumed  too  much  upon  the  ignorance 
or  forbearance  of  the  people.  If  they  "  did  not 
know"  all  the  unfaithfulness  and  corruption  that 
reigned  in  the  councils  at  Washington  and  else- 
where, they  knew  enough  to  disgust  them  with 
many  of  their  proceedings,  and  to  convince  them 
of  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  new  organization. 
The  time,  moreover,  for  its  formation  could  not 


AN    ORGANIZATION    EXAMINED.        95 

have  been  more  auspicious :  old  party  issues  had 
passed  away,  and  there  was  scarcely  anything 
left  but  the  name  to  divide  the  people.  Political 
science  had  reached  that  stage  of  development, 
when,  those  who  were  actuated  by  principles  of 
pure  patriotism  could  coalesce  without  sacrificing 
any  of  their  cherished  sentiments.  Indeed,  they 
were  prepared  to  cast  away  those  principles  in 
both  platforms  that  were  useless,  and  retain  such 
as  were  sound.  In  thus  rejecting  the  worthless 
and  uniting  the  excellent,  they  may  constitute 
the  best  political  basis  ever  formed.  This  fusion 
of  Whig  and  Democratic  principles,  acknow- 
ledged to  be  just  and  patriotic,  they  offer  to  the 
American  people  as  a  creed  made  up  of  senti- 
ments approved  by  the  wisest  statesmen  of  the 
past,  and  advocated  by  the  most  exalted  of  the 
present  day. 

In  other  words,  it  will  be  a  collection  of 
jewels,  a  combination  of  those  brilliant  dogmas 
evolved  by  the  powerful  intellects  of  Washington, 
Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  Calhoun,  Webster, 
and  others.  The  creed  of  the  American  party 
is  their  best  vindication  against  the  charge  of 
fanaticism  and  weakness,  for  it  is,  after  all,  no 
new  theory  of  government  which  they  propose, 
but  a  carrying  out  of  those  patriotic  sentiments 
which  have,  from  time  to  time,  been  thrown 
oft'  for  our  country's  history  by  her  noblest 


96  THE    NECESSITY    OF,     ETC. 

intellects,  and  whose  valuable  influence  would 
have  been  lost  amid  the  rubbish  of  the  old  party 
distinctions.  The  fact,  I  think,  is  therefore 
clearly  made  out  and  established  beyond  the 
possibility  of  doubt,  that  an  American  party 
was  loudly  demanded  by  considerations  of  policy, 
and  became  unavoidable  from  the  condition  of 
the  old  parties. 


THE    EXIGENCIES,     ETC.  97 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  EXIGENCIES  OF  THE  TIMES  DEMAND  AN  AMERI- 
CAN PARTY. 

HUMANITY,  in  its  existing  state,  must  produce 
the  most  serious  reflections  in  thoughtful  minds. 
The  aspects  of  the  world  plainly  indicate  that 
a  momentous  era  is  at  hand — that  events  preg- 
nant with  tremendous  realities  are  about  to  burst 
upon  mankind.  The  journals  in  all  climes  are 
chronicling  the  most  startling  occurrences.  The- 
nations  of  the  earth  are  in  a  highly  excited 
state.  There  are  scenes  of  commotion  wherever 
we  look !  Agitations  that  reach  to  the  pro- 
foundest  depths  of  the  social  structure,  and 
causing  kingdoms  to  vibrate  to  their  centres. 
Hoary  despotisms  are  lifted  from  the  foundations 
of  centuries — thrones  are  trembling  like  aspen 
leaves  in  the  gale.  Turning  to  the  old  world, 
we  behold  scenes  of  carnage  and  blood !  The 
human  family  is  like  a  sea,  on  which  the  passions 
of  men  are  blowing  from  every  point,  lashing  it 
into  terrible  commotion,  while  the  maddened 
billows  of  power  are  here  and  there  engulfing 
some  cherished  interest,  or  some  brilliant  hopes. 
9 


98  THE    EXIGENCIES 

China  has  been  waked  from  the  repose  of  cen- 
turies, and  is  now  heaving  upon  waves  of  passion. 
The  conflict  between  the  crescent  and  the  cross 
has  involved  in  its  issues  the  most  powerful  em- 
pires of  the  old  world.  There  is  not  a  kingdom 
that  is  not  agitated  with  painful  apprehensions, 
or  that  is  not  now  contending  for  its  existence. 
Though  we  are  far  removed  from  those  scenes 
of  foreign  conflict,  we  cannot  remain  unaffected 
by  them.  "We  are  united  to  those  nations  not 
only  by  those  bonds  of  sympathy  which  make 
the  interests  of  humanity  common,  but  com- 
merce, with  all  its  facilities  for  intercommunica- 
tion, makes  us  partakers  of  the  elements  which 
enter  into  their  conflicts,  and  sharers  in  the 
issues  to  which  they  will  give  rise.  We  live  in 
no  ordinary  times.  This  period  of  our  world's 
history  is  intensely  interesting.  It  is  a  period 
of  great  struggles.  Not  only  is  the  din  of  arms 
and  the  shock  of  contending  armies  echoed 
through  the  earth — but  there  is  a  mighty  collision 
of  principles  involving  the  highest  and  most 
sacred  interests  of  the  race. 

A  war  of  principles  is  the  most  exciting  and 
the  noblest  of  all  conflicts.  It  is  one  which  calls 
forth  and  ranges  on  the  sides  of  the  combatants 
our  liveliest  sympathies.  Who  does  not  now 
feel  an  intense  interest  in  that  struggle  going  on 
between  despotism  and  freedom?  Between 
error  and  truth?  Between  superstition  and 


OFTHETIMES.  99 

religion  ?  As  these  principles  aim  at  a  universal 
influence  in  their  dominion  and  bearings,  they 
must  affect  all  mankind.  It  cannot  be  a  matter 
of  indifference  to  us  whether  one  or  the  other 
triumphs,  forasmuch  as  the  result  must  exert  an 
influence  beneficial  or  adverse  upon  us.  If  the 
old  despotisms  are  re-established,  they  will  be- 
come more  impregnable  than  ever,  and  it  will 
become  more  difficult  for  this  nation  to  execute 
its  mission  of  diffusing  the  principles  of  liberal  in- 
stitutions and  humane  laws  throughout  the  world. 
If  the  aspirations  for  freedom  which  are  now 
throbbing  through  those  empires  shall  be  trans- 
formed into  glorious  realizations,  the  contribu- 
tions from  those  countries  to  our  population  will 
more  readily  become  Americanized  when  once 
upon  our  shores.  Every  victory  of  truth  over 
error  wherever  achieved,  will  add  force  to  the 
efforts  made  here  for  its  advancement  and 
supremacy — and  the  triumphs  of  an  uncorrupted 
Christianity  over  superstition,  will  infuse  fresh 
energy  into  those  benevolent  schemes  which 
contemplate  the  universal  prevalence  of  pure 
religion. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  these  plain  but  incon- 
trovertible facts,  I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that 
the  exigencies  of  the  times  imperatively  demand 
an  association  of  American  citizens,  truly  pa- 
triotic and  Christian  in  its  character.  I  am 
aware  that  there  has  been  a  singular  and  decided 


100  THE    EXIGENCIES 

aversion  on  the  part  of  many  to  the  blending 
of  civil  and  religious  influences.  It  has  some- 
times formed  a  powerful  objection  to  a  popular 
movement,  because  Christianity  has  been  re- 
motely associated  with  it.  Politicians  seemed 
to  dread  contact  either  with  the  Gospel  or  those 
who  espoused  it,  for  what  reason  they  knew 
best.  For  some  years  the  national  tendencies 
seemed  strongly  towards  infidelity — but  happily 
there  is  a  change  working  in  national  sentiment 
on  this  subject.  It  is  one  of  the  most  agreeable 
features  of  Mr.  "Wise's  recent  production,  (to 
which  we  will  in  due  time  pay  our  respects,)  that 
he  attempts  to  vindicate  some  of  the  positions 
assumed  by  the  principles  of  the  Gospel. 

But  while  the  religious  aspect  assigned  to  the 
American  party  is  avowedly  the  most  objection- 
able feature  to  its  opponents,  I  am  disposed  to 
regard  this  element  in  the  new  order  as  its  most 
admirable  virtue,  and  one  which  will  not  only 
commend  it  to  the  ablest  and  best  men,  but 
will  secure  for  it  an  immortality  which  none 
other  can  boast.  And  why  should  it  be  consi- 
dered an  improper  departure  of  the  Gospel  from 
its  appropriate  sphere  when  it  exerts  its  elevating 
and  purifying  influences  upon  an  association  of 
intelligent  men,  so  that  they  respect  its  teach- 
ings and  regulate  their  conduct  in  civil  life  by 
its  precepts?  Even  a  theory  of  government 
drawn  from  it  would  honorably  compare  with 


OF    THE    TIMES.  101 

those  of  the  ablest  statesmen  that  ever  lived. 
Are  not  the  finest  gold  and  the  most  precious 
gems  in  our  noble  Declaration  of  Independence 
from  the  Gospel  mine?  "Where  else,  and  in 
what  code  of  ethics  is  the  equality  and  unity 
of  mankind  taught?  What  other  system  can 
be  compared  with  it,  in  clearly  apprehending, 
in  forcibly  stating,  and  justly  requiring  the  du- 
ties which  we  owe  to  each  other  as  members  of 
the  same  social  fraternity,  as  well  as  to  those  in 
authority  over  us  ?  This  affected  horror  of  an 
influence  so  ennobling  and  so  healthful  in  a 
party  is  simply  ridiculous,  not  to  apply  a  harsher 
epithet.  Why  should  not  the  religious  element 
which  regulates  all  the  springs  of  action  be  asso- 
ciated with  the  political  ?  It  cannot  impair  the 
ability  of  citizens  rightly  to  discharge  their  du- 
ties. Was  there  ever  a  purer  patriot,  an  abler 
warrior,  a  profounder  statesman,  or  a  better 
citizen  than  George  Washington  ?  And  if 
prayer  and  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  did  not 
disqualify  nor  corrupt  the  father  of  our  country, 
but  guided  and  preserved  him  while  shaping  and 
presiding  over  the  interests  of  the  nation,  will 
not  these  influences  have  a  like  efficacy  upon 
those  who  are  his  worthy  successors  ?  If  Web- 
ster has  left  it  as  the  conviction  of  his  lofty  in- 
tellect, that  Christianity  forms  an  integral  part 
of  our  political  system,  why  should  it  not  be 

suffered  to  influence  our  action  as  citizens,  and 
9* 


102  THE    EXIGENCIES 

beautify  and  strengthen  our  noble  institutions  ? 
If  Cass  uttered  it  as  the  deliberate  conviction 
of  his  master-mind  and  richly-stored  intellect, 
that  our  Republic  can  only  be  preserved  by  a 
pure  Christianity,  why  raise  a  cry  of  horror,  as 
though  some  fatal  innovation  were  set  on  foot, 
when  men  claim  as  a  political  right  protection 
in  their  religious  interests  ?  The  American  party 
asks  no  legislation  for  Protestantism,  and  will 
suffer  none  for  Catholicism,  but  demands  what 
the  Constitution  of  this  great  confederacy  gua- 
rantees to  all  its  citizens,  untrammelled  freedom 
to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  con- 
science, or,  if  any  choose,  not  to  worship  at  all — 
where  then  is  there  room  for  censure  ? 

I  contend  that  the  circumstances  which  brought 
about  the  present  issue,  and  the  very  nature  of 
the  conflict  to  which  the  new  order  has  risen, 
make  it  eminently  proper  that  the  religious 
element,  and  those  views  of  free  religious  wor- 
ship already  indicated,  should  enter  prominently 
into  the  contest.  This  freedom  of  conscience, 
and  the  rights  of  the  ministers  of  religion,  have 
been  threatened  and  denounced.  On  the  one 
hand,  Bishop  Hughes,  in  his  reply  to  General 
Cass  on  religious  toleration,  would  make  liberty 
of  conscience  consist  in  its  inherent  or  natural 
properties.  He  maintains  that  the  freedom  of 
conscience  can  never  be  violated — that  none  can 
penetrate  the  fortress  —  that  it  is  free  amid  the 


OP    THE    TIMES.  103 

fires  of  the  stake,  or  when  the  body  is  galled 
and  wasted  by  chains,  or  starved  amid  the  filth 
of  a  dungeon.  But,  however  these  views  of 
religious  freedom  may  suit  Home,  and  however 
significant  and  pregnant  with  meaning  this  ex- 
position of  the  inalienable  prerogatives  of  con- 
science may  be,  should  the  papal  power  become 
dominant  in  this  country,  Americans  would  not 
relish  such  freedom,  and  what  is  obvious,  will 
never  consent  to  it  here,  nor  endorse  it  any- 
where else.  The  case,  then,  assumes  this  aspect; 
if  the  high  functionaries  of  that  spiritual  des- 
potism, with  all  the  power  they  can  wield,  if  the 
entire  Catholic  communion  occupies  the  same 
position  as  its  leaders,  if  they  act  as  one  man, 
because  impelled  by  one  will,  and  having  one 
aim,  the  subjection  of  our  country  to  the  Pope, 
is  it  not  right,  is  it  not  just,  is  it  not  a  sacred 
duty  on  the  part  of  Americans,  whether  prac- 
tical Christians  or  not,  whether  ecclesiastics  or 
private  members,  so  that  they  only  love  equal 
rights  and  religious  toleration,  and  deprecate 
such  views  of  religious  freedom  as  Bishop 
Hughes  oifers,  to  unite  their  exertions  against 
the  enemies  of  our  liberties?  Nothing  could 
be  more  just.  But  it  is  not  from  Catholics 
alone  that  danger  is  to  be  apprehended,  but 
socialists  and  infidels;  those  men  who  would 
paralyze  the  arm  of  public  authority,  when  it  is 
extended  to  prevent  their  impious  deeds — men 


104  THE    EXIGENCIES 

who  would  tear  our  noble  charter  into  fragments, 
and  shiver  our  social  structure  to  atoms,  if  they 
could  command  the  power,  as  they  have  the 
will.  They  are  impatient  to  abolish  every  sab- 
bath law,  consume  every  sanctuary,  break  every 
marriage  tie,  and  turn  this  land  into  a  brothel 
and  Pandemonium.  Shall  not  the  friends  of 
order,  of  purity,  of  virtue,  of  humanity  and 
religion,  unite  to  silence  these  impudent  fo- 
reigners? Ay,  if  we  should  refuse  to  do  so, 
the  very  soil  hallowed  by  the  blood  of  our  noble 
sires  would  cry  out  against  us.  If  we  would 
not  rise  to  vindicate  their  principles  and  our 
country's  honor,  we  would  deserve  the  reproba- 
tion of  mankind  and  be  forced  to  reproach 
ourselves,  for  suffering  those  dire  calamities  to 
darken  and  oppress  the  land,  which  these 
leagued  powers  would  bring  upon  us. 

One  reason  which  causes  men  to  look  with 
distrust  upon  any  combination  of  political  and 
religious  elements,  .or  to  suspect  a  political 
dogma  which  may  have  sprung  from  the  reli- 
gious sense  of  the  people,  is,  no  doubt,  owing  to 
the  instinctive  dread  which  every  American  has 
of  the  union  of  church  and  state.  Such  a 
result,  however,  could  never  take  place  from 
any  combination  of  Protestant  men,  for  the 
obvious  reason  that,  if  sufficiently  powerful  to 
control  the  public  mind,  the  movement  would 
necessarily  comprehend  a  great  variety  of  reli- 


OF    THE    TIMES.  105 

gious  creeds,  none  of  which  would  accept  of 
civil  power,  nor  allow  it  in  any  that  might.  It 
is  idle  to  imagine  such  a  result,  for  it  could  not, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  occur.  It  is  even  one 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  American 
party,  to  oppose  all  tendencies  of  this  kind, 
wherever  found.  If  it  be  said  that  such  mon- 
strous unions  exist  between  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  powers  in  Protestant  as  well  as  Ca- 
tholic countries,  such  a  combination  of  causes 
could  never  take  place  in  a  republic  as  to  pro- 
duce such  a  result.  It  never  has  taken  place 
where  distinct  denominations  have  existed ;  it 
never  can,  unless  all  men  of  different  creeds 
would  become  subject  to  one,  which  is  totally 
out  of  the  question.  So  far,  therefore,  from 
deprecating  the  religious  element  in  the  new 
party,  we  regard  it  as  an  auspicious  feature, 
commending  itself  to  the  judgment  of  good 
citizens. 

But  there  is  another  view  of  the  subject 
deserving  our  consideration.  Many  distinct 
nationalities  flow  together,  and  must  blend  into 
one,  to  insure  harmony  and  permanency  to  our 
government.  But  which  of  all  these  is  to  pre- 
dominate and  absorb  all  the  rest?  Most  assu- 
redly the  American.  Having  received  contri- 
butions from  all  nations,  they  must  give  up 
their  peculiarities  and  become  American  in 
feeling,  in  thought,  and  in  devotion  to  our 


106  THE    EXIGENCIES 

republic,  before  they  can  be  considered  good 
citizens;  and,  made  up  of  so  many  and  essen- 
tially different  materials,  our  nation  has  most  to 
fear  from  the  resistance  which  these  offer,  in  this 
process  of  assimilation,  which  must  go  on,  as 
long  as  this  influx  of  a  foreign  population  con- 
tinues. We  find,  however,  among  those  who 
profess  to  be  citizens,  men  who  are  still  subject 
to  a  foreign  potentate  and  sworn  to  render  him 
absolute  obedience ;  and  how  they  can  be  faith- 
ful to  two  sovereigns  at  the  same  time,  would 
require  the  most  skilful  Jesuitical  sophistry  to 
show ;  to  us  it  is  an  absurdity.  In  view,  there- 
fore, of  these  different  nationalities  which  are 
found  amongst  us,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
have  an  efficient  American  organization,  so  as 
to  give  the  appropriate  prominence  to  those 
peculiarities  which  pertain  to  us  as  a  republican 
people,  that  the  influence  exerted  upon  the 
various  classes  who  shelter  under  our  banner 
may  so  transform  them  as  to  become  thoroughly 
imbued  with  our  nationalities.  It  is  only  in 
this  way  that  we  can  hope  to  benefit  them,  and 
protect  ourselves.  Our  true  interests  as  Ameri- 
cans must  be  thoroughly  understood  by  our- 
selves, if  we  would  be  prepared  to  defend  them 
when  occasion  requires.  That  such  a  period 
has  dawned,  I  think,  is  too  obvious  for  any  one 
to  doubt.  It  is  true,  no  appeal  to  arms  is  ne- 
cessary, for  we  possess  the  requisite  civil  and 


OF    THE    TIMES.  107 

moral  force  to  avert  such  a  calamity ;  but  then 
\ve  may  not,  with  impunity  to  our  interests, 
withhold  that  influence  which  it  is  in  our  power 
to  wield.  The  politician  may  find  ample  secu- 
rity against  all  real  or  supposed  dangers  in  our 
laws,  and  regard  our  constitution  impregnable 
against  all  attempts  to  subvert  our  liberties;  but 
the  statesman  and  philosopher,  who  have  care- 
fully studied  the  beginning  and  progress  of  our 
national  existence,  will  only  rely  upon  our  laws 
while  these  derive  their  potency  from  the  virtue 
and  intelligence  of  the  people.  Republics  are 
not  so  much  governed  by  outward  constraint  as 
by  inward  principle;  and  such  has  been  and 
is  still  the  experience  of  mankind.  This  nation 
is  indebted  to  .Christianity,  more  than  to  any- 
thing else,  for  its  existence,  its  growth,  and 
prosperity.  It  was  under  the  force  of  those 
motives  which  Christianity  inspires,  that  a  few 
men,  without  wealth  or  ample  resources,  first 
reared  the  standard  of  freedom.  "  That  great 
event,"  says  a  distinguished  writer,  "the  Ame- 
rican Revolution,  would  never  have  been 
achieved,  but  for  Christianity.  Political  soci- 
ety moved  on  the  axis  of  religion."  The 
religious  movement  gave  birth  and  character 
to  the  social :  "  men,  who  knew  that  there  could 
be  a  church  without  a  bishop,  knew  that  there 
could  be  a  state  without  a  king."  On  that 
memorable  occasion,  when  the  delegates  from 


108  THE    EXIGENCIES 

the  different  colonies  were  assembled  to  form  a 
declaration  of  rights,  such  was  the  conflict  of 
opinion,  that  there  was  imminent  danger  of  a 
dissolution  of  the  assembly,  without  framing  a 
bond  of  union  against  their  oppressors,  when  it 
was  proposed  by  one  of  their  number  that 
prayer  should  be  offered;  and,  after  imploring 
the  wisdom  which  cometh  from  above,  they 
succeeded  in  forming  that  basis  upon  which  our 
political  edifice  has  grown  and  expanded,  until 
it  has  become  the  admiration  of  the  world.  As 
in  its  origin,  so  also  in  its  growth,  is  our  nation 
mainly  indebted  to  the  instrumentalities  of  the 
gospel.  It  gave  rise  to  that  system  of  education 
which  has  made  our  population  more  generally 
intelligent  than  that  of  any  other  nation,  except 
Germany.  The  same  agency  produced  all  those 
benevolent  institutions  where  the  unfortunate 
find  comfortable  homes.  "We  are  indebted  to  its 
influence  for  the  consecration  of  those  great  intel- 
lects which  have  illumined  the  high  places  of  our 
Republic  to  the  interests  of  patriotism  and  vir- 
tue. And  what  shall  we  say  of  its  moulding, 
guiding,  and  restraining  agency  upon  our  vast 
population  ?  You  cannot  govern  a  free  people 
without  religion,  and  the  motives  of  eternity 
which  it  inspires.  A  religious  sentiment  among 
the  people  is  indispensably  necessary  to  carry 
out  the  designs  of  civil  government,  and  motives 
which  lay  hold  on  the  world  to  come  are  needed 


OF    THE    TIMES.  109 

to  restrain  men  from  disturbing  the  peace  and 
happiness  of  society.  The  history  of  the  past  is 
prolific  in  proofs  of  the  weakness  and  utter 
inefficiency  of  human  laws,  where  these  are  not 
associated  with  the  retributions  of  eternity.  It 
is,  therefore,  not  simply  impolitic,  but  suicidal, 
to  attempt  to  neutralize  or  destroy  the  religious 
element  in  our  political  system ;  for  this  would 
strike  away  the  strongest  pillars  of  our  Republic. 
But  this  is  precisely  what  many  of  these 
foreigners  are  aiming  to  effect.  They  have 
labored  long  and  assiduously  to  create  a  train 
of  influences  which  might  weaken,  and  ulti- 
mately extinguish,  those  religious  sentiments  of 
our  people  which  now  mould  the  public  con- 
science. And  while  such  efforts  are  put  forth, 
shall  we  not  rise  up  to  plead  for  and  to  defend 
our  altars  ?  If  there  can  be  an  emergency  to 
justify  the  origin  of  an  association  under  an 
existing  pressure  or  an  impending  evil,  such 
a  necessity  called  the  American  party  into 
being.  The  great  conflict  of  those  everlasting 
and  inestimable  principles  which  is  now  raging 
over  the  earth,  must  unquestionably  be  de- 
cided here.  In  this  land  will  the  fate  of 
humanity  be  determined.  The  scene  is  happily 
chosen  for  the  final  struggle — there  is  a  fitness 
between  the  magnificence  of  this  country  and 
the  vast  and  far-reaching  issues  which  are  here 

to  be  decided.     Behold  this  land!     Is  it  not 
10 


110  THE    EXIGENCIES 

great  in  all  its  features  ?  Look  at  its  natural 
greatness !  "What  an  area  of  territory !  what 
magnificent  rivers,  mountains,  lakes  and  seas ! 
Examine  the  business  operations  of  this  country ; 
they  are  all  on  a  large  scale,  which  is  ever  wi- 
dening and  enlarging.  The  commercial  inte- 
rests of  this  nation  have,  from  the  beginning 
of  its  existence,  been  rising,  until  every  sea  is 
whitened  with  our  sails ;  and  they  will  doubtless 
progress  until  we  shall  surpass  all  our  rivals. 
From  these  and  other  considerations,  not  only 
the  wise  of  the  present  day,  but  the  judicious 
and  far-seeing  minds  of  other  times,  have  pre- 
dicted the  coming  of  this  warfare  and  the  field 
of  decisive  action.  The  conflict  is  at  hand — 
and  the  American  party  may  be  looked  upon  as 
the  offspring  of  Providence,  just  as  much  as  it 
is  the  child  of  the  people.  We  look  upon  it  as 
the  chosen  instrument  to  bear  us  through  the 
responsibilities  of  the  day,  and  as  an  association 
freighted  with  the  needful  energies  to  secure  for 
the  principles  of  truth  over  error,  of  freedom  over 
despotism,  of  religion  over  superstition,  and  of 
tolerance  over  intolerance,  a  triumph  that  will 
bathe  the  entire  world  in  light  and  glory.  Con- 
stituted for  a  noble  end,  and  toiling  for  sublime 
results,  they  are  now  marching  onward  to  the 
conflict,  with  hearts  brave  and  true ;  their  spirits 
are  animated  with  the  conviction  that  theirs 
is  the  cause  of  right,  of  man,  and  of  God,  and 


OF    THE    TIMES.  Ill 

thus  pressing  forward  in  the  path  to  new  vic- 
tories, under  the  inspiration  of  the  recollections 
of  the  glorious  past,  they  are  sustained  by  the 
hopes  of  a  yet  more  glorious  future.  The  po- 
sition assumed  in  this  chapter  is  vindicated ; 
and  such  a  judgment  we  await  at  the  popular 
tribunal. 


112  THE    TRUE    POSITION 


CHAPTEE  VII. 

THE  TRUE  POSITION  OF  THE  PARTY. 

ALL  things  possessed  of  excellence  are  doomed 
to  meet  with  resistance  in  their  origin  and  pro- 
gress. A  sunbeam  in  its  passage  to  our  world 
must  overcome  obstructions.  Systems,  whether 
philosophical,  moral  or  political,  must  expect  to 
encounter  influences  adverse  to  their  success. 
If  destitute  of  those  properties  necessary  to  sus- 
tain life  and  to  give  an  internal  force  superior 
to  the  outward  pressure,  they  perish  as  soon  as 
they  are  born.  It  is  not  singular,  therefore,  that 
an  organization  which  has  proved  very  trouble- 
some to  scheming  politicians  and  ruinous  to  their 
hopes,  should  draw  upon  itself  an  unusual  share 
of  odium.  The  peculiarities  of  the  new  order 
have  given  it  a  wonderful  notoriety,  and  secured 
for  it  a  more  than  ordinary  degree  of  defamation. 
It  is  really  amusing  to  look  over  some  of  these 
effusions  of  those  party  journals  that  have  so 
long  directed  the  masses  without  let  or  hindrance ; 
but  which  are  now  all  at  once  brought  against  the 
wall.  Having  for  years  found  the  people  whom 


OF    THE    PARTY.  113 

they  commanded,  ready  to  execute  their  wishes 
and  to  cast  their  suffrages  as  they  were  instructed ; 
they  were  not  prepared  for  this  sudden  revulsion 
in  the  political  current.  We  are  not  disposed  to 
blame  them  for  showing  a  degree  of  feeling 
under  circumstances  so  provoking.  Eeason  can- 
not always  be  in  the  ascendant — passion  will 
sometimes  reign.  "We  would  not  even  more 
than  smile  when  we  see  a  man  beating  the  rock 
that  has  crushed  his  toe,  or  getting  angry  with 
the  wind  that  comes  freighted  with  dust  to  the 
discomfort  of  his  eyes.  Such  things  will  happen, 
and  should  not  be  mentioned  to  the  disparage- 
ment of  the  individual's  fortitude,  but  viewed 
simply  as  incidental  evidences  of  the  weakness 
of  human  nature.  It  is  no  slight  annoyance  to 
the  mariner  when  his  full-rigged  vessel  droops 
its  wings  on  a  waveless  sea;  or  when  driven 
back  by  opposing  winds  and  tides ;  and  it  is  no 
small  chagrin  to  these  political  schemers  when 
in  sight  of  the  anxiously  longed-for  port,  they 
are  carried  on  reefs  and  shoals  by  an  adverse 
current.  Blame  them  because  they  swear,  and 
stamp,  and  foam  ? — Never !  It  is  human  nature 
to  be  thus  fretted  and  chafed  in  spirit  when 
great  hopes  are  blighted.  But  there  is  hope  that 
their  temper  will  improve — and  that  these  men 
now  so  alarmingly  agitated  as  they  pass  along 
in  the  "via  dolorosa,"  may  regain  their  equa- 
nimity. It  is  said  that  some  distance  up  a  cer- 
10* 


114  THE    TRUE    POSITION 

tain  river,  the  saline  properties  of  the  atmosphere 
are  admirably  suited  to  reduce  the  circulation  in 
fevered  systems,  and  that  many  whose  symptoms 
were  similar  to  those  which  manifest  themselves 
in  these  gentlemen,  were  entirely  restored  in 
those  regions.  It  might  be  worth  white  for  some 
of  our  friends  to  try  the  effects  of  an  excursion 
to  that  cool  retreat,  more  especially  as  the  people 
seem  to  think  that  they  can  dispense  with  their 
services  for  the  present.  But  as  this  is  more 
particularly  a  business  which  concerns  their  own 
comfort,  we  will  pass  on  to  the  subject  of  this 
chapter. 

The  position,  like  the  character  and  objects 
of  the  American  party,  has  been  grossly  mis- 
represented. They  have  not  complained  of  this, 
for  they  know  that  those  who  are  hostile  to 
their  exertions  have  been  accustomed  in  their 
political  warfare,  to  traduce  and  defame  each 
other:  neither  does  the  new  order  beg  for  a 
cessation  of ,  hostilities,  nor  insist  upon  their 
enemies  using  the  same  weapons  wliich  they 
employ,  but  this  vituperation  and  abuse  impose 
the  necessity  upon  some  one — to  define  the  true 
position  of  the  party.  This  privilege  will,  I  trust, 
be  the  more  cheerfully  conceded,  since  it  has  of 
late  years  become  quite  fashionable  for  parties 
and  public  men  to  define  their  position ;  they 
have  thus  given  us  the  force  of  their  example  as 


OF    THE    PARTY.  115 

a  justification,  to  place  the  much  abused  order 
"rectus  in  curia,"  before  the  public. 

The  American  Party  is  denounced  as  fostering 
hostility  to  foreigners.  This  assertion  is  often 
presented  under  such  colorings  and  with  such 
statements  of  facts  as,  when  examined,  are 
not  facts,  that  an  air  of  plausibility  is  thrown 
over  the  portraiture  drawn  by  the  disordered 
fancy  of  its  opposers.  But  where  is  the  evidence 
that  the  new  party  is  enkindling  and  fostering 
hostile  feelings  against  foreigners  ?  0,  it  is  pal- 
pable, because  they  will  not  allow  them  to  hold 
office — you  proscribe  them  for  their  religion, 
because  you  would  exclude  Catholics  from  official 
trusts.  With  such  premises,  we  are  not  surprised 
at  their  conclusions,  for  the  former  are  as  barren 
of  intelligence,  as  the  latter  are  destitute  of  logic. 
Could  you  conceive  of  a  more  indefensible  and 
absurd  assumption,  than  that  I  am  hostile  to  a 
citizen  and  prejudice  others  against  him,  because 
I  do  not  conceive  him  qualified  to  legislate  or 
rule,  and  therefore  would  not  consent  to  his 
elevation  to  an  official  position  ?  There  could 
not  be  a  more  stupid  assertion.  Upon  the  same 
ground,  it  must  then  be  maintained,  that  who- 
ever is  not  possessed  of  the  needful  qualifications 
to  make  or  administer  law,  and  therefore  not 
placed  in  a  responsible  office,  becomes  an  object 
of  distrust  and  hate  on  the  part  of  those  who 
withold  from  him  their  suffrages.  So  that,  if 


116  THE    TRUE    POSITION 

you  regard  an  Irishman  or  German  a  useful 
citizen,  because  he  has  strength  to  dig  canals 
and  construct  railroads ;  or  because  this  one  is  a 
mechanic,  and  that  one  a  farmer  or  merchant, 
and  contributes  to  the  general  good,  by  pursuing 
that  vocation  for  which  he  is  fitted ;  but  if  you 
do  not  nominate  and  elect  him  to  some  office, 
you  are  fostering  hostile  feelings  against  him — 
and  all  other  classes  under  like  circumstances  ? 

Palpably  absurd  as  such  a  mode  of  argumen- 
tation must  appear  to  a  man  of  good  sense,  it  is 
all  that  can  be  alleged  in  support  of  the  assertion 
that  the  American  party  engenders  and  nurses 
malevolent  feelings  against  foreigners.  The 
members  of  this  association  are  fully  satisfied 
that  however  useful  many  foreigners  are  in  the 
various  departments  of  human  industry,  they 
are  totally  unfit  to  occupy  official  stations. 
Some  of  the  reasons  of  their  disqualification  to 
rule,  have  already  been  assigned  under  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  principle  that  Americans  should 
rule  America.  Here  it  is  only  necessary  to 
recur  to  these  observations.  But  if  we  keep  in 
view  the  education  of  these  men,  the  peculiar 
influences  which  were  active  in  maturing  their 
character,  and  the  unavoidable  predilections 
which  the  form  of  government  under  which  they 
grew  up  produced  in  their  minds,  and  the  evi- 
dences found  in  each  and  every  one  of  them 
that  their  distinctive  nationalities  are  interwoven 


OF    THE    PARTY.  117 

with  the  very  texture  of  their  being — we  will 
assure  ourselves  of  the  wisdom  of  the  policy,  which 
aims  to  exercise  that  precaution  in  the  choice 
of  rulers  necessary  to  avert  the  evils  of  a  mal- 
administration of  the  government.  So  far  from 
being  actuated  by  feelings  of  hostility  towards 
foreigners,  it  can  be  demonstrated  to  the  satis- 
faction of  all  whose  minds  are  open  to  conviction, 
that  whatever  of  apparent  illiberality  there  may 
seem  to  be  in  this  creed,  it  is  after  all  the  soundest 
and  most  liberal  policy  towards  them.  It  is  be- 
cause we  love  them  and  the  interests  of  our 
country,  that  we  would  give  them  no  higher 
political  position  than  citizenship,  and  that  only 
after  they  are  duly  prepared.  As  such,  they  can 
be  happy  and  useful,  unless  they  are  victims  of 
unholy  ambition ;  and  if  those  fires  are  burning 
within  them,  they  offer  the  most  irrefragable 
proof  of  their  own  unfitness  for  an  office  of  trust. 
Those  in  our  midst  of  foreign  nativity,  must 
agree  with  us  as  to  the  wisdom  of  this  position, 
when  they  calmly  look  at  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  our  nation.  The  immense  influx  of 
foreigners  has  something  alarming  in  its  aspect. 
"We  grant  that  many  come  with  the  best  inten- 
tions, but  could  the  nation  confide  in  their 
loyalty,  should  an  emergency  arise  to  endanger 
our  liberties?  However  high  our  estimate  of 
the  immigrant  population  may  be  in  general,  it 
is  notorious  that  a  large  number  are  of  very 


118  THE    TRUE    POSITION 

questionable  reputation,  and  others  are  tar- 
nished with  the  deepest  crimes.  How  are 
they  to  be  distinguished?  Or  will  those  who 
had  become  obnoxious  to  the  laws  of  their 
native  land,  be  wise  and  just  administrators  of 
law  here  ?  To  whatever  extent  the  sympathies 
of  others  for  aliens  might  carry  them  in  the  way 
of  granting  favors,  we  cannot  hazard  such  a 
perilous  experiment. 

To  exalt  them  to  office  would  only  tend  to 
strengthen  that  inbred  disposition  to  keep  up 
their  distinct  nationalities,  and  thus  retard  the 
fusion  of  those  antagonistic  elements  which 
agitate  the  social  body,  into  one  truly  American 
character.  Let  them  be  contented  with  the  tens 
and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  native  born  who 
fill  the  various  occupations  of  life,  and  who  never 
aspire  to  official  stations.  Let  our  foreigners 
first  learn  to  obey,  before  they  would  rule.  Let 
them  teach  their  children  that  obedience  and 
love  due  to  the  government  that  protects  their 
persons  and  property.  "What  then  is  the  hostility 
fostered  against  aliens  by  the  new  order  ?  It  has 
no  existence  save  in  the  heated  brains  of  those 
who  court  that  influence  for  vile  political  pur- 
poses. It  is  a  cry  raised  by  those  who  have  long 
since  been  accustomed  to  barter  for  the  foreign 
element. 

You  may  call  that  parental  solicitude  which 
a  father  displays  by  restraining  a  refractory 


OF    THE    PARTY.  119 

child,  hostility  to  the  offspring;  but  those  who 
understand  the  relations  which  the  parties  sus- 
tain to  each  other,  will  regard  it  an  act  of  the 
highest  consideration  for  the  youth's  welfare ; 
our  government  sustains  a  parental  relation 
towards  its  legitimate  and  adopted  children,  and 
may  with  the  greatest  propriety,  and  without 
infringing  any  right  circumscribe  the  privileges 
of  the  latter,  if  the  interests  of  all  are  thereby 
promoted. 

Another  objection  offered  against  the  Ame- 
rican party,  is  its  alleged  tendency  to  stir  up 
persecution  against  the  Catholics.  It  would 
appear  somewhat  singular  that  such  a  charge 
should  gain  currency  even  among  Catholics, 
who  have  had  so  many  evidences  of  the  sleepless 
jealousy  with  which  the  American  people  guard 
religious  freedom,  did  we  not  know  something 
of  the  cunning  and  treachery  which  are  put  in 
requisition  whenever  their  fortunes  are  waning. 
The  cry  of  persecution  has  so  often  been  raised 
to  create  sympathy  for  suspicious  parties,  that  it 
may  have  been  deemed  very  useful,  at  this  time, 
for  them.  That  they  really  apprehend  such  an 
evil,  is  as  idle  as  the  wind.  When  and  where 
have  they  been  persecuted  ?  On  what  occasion 
has  the  American  party  proclaimed  such  a  de- 
termination ?  Who  does  not  know  that,  during 
the  excitements  which  attended  the  street- 
preaching  in  New  York  and  elsewhere,  these 


120  THE    TRUE    POSITION 

men  protected  the  freedom  of  speech  ?  Though 
not  sympathizing  with  these  misguided  fa- 
natics, they  defended  them  in  what  they  con- 
ceived to  be  the  privilege  of  American  citizens. 
Dr.  Duff,  in  his  account  of  those  scenes, 
says :  "  There  were  persons  in  the  crowd  dis- 
posed to  molest  these  preachers;  but  in  that 
crowd  were  also  mixed  up  'Know-Nothings.' 
Well,  the  Protestant  man  went  on  expounding 
Popery,  while  the  Papists,  as  usual,  began  to 
hoot.  Suddenly  every  Papist  got  a  firm  thwack 
on  the  side  of  the  head,  with  the  most  thorough 
American  gravity,  coupled  with  such  words  as 
these :  '  Sir,  this  is  a  free  country ;  every  man  is 
entitled  to  speak;  and,  sir,  when  the  man  is 
done,  if  you  want  to  answer  him,  we  will  see  to 
it  that  you  get  justice.' '  This  is  their  uniform 
course ;  and  they  would  just  as  certainly  protect 
a  Catholic  in  his  right  of  speech  as  they  would 
a  Protestant.  Knowing  these  facts,  it  is  some- 
what singular  that  their  opponents  will  continue 
to  circulate  this  slander.  But  it  indicates  to 
what  extremities  they  are  driven ;  for  it  is  inva- 
riably a  sign  of  the  weakness  of  a  cause,  when 
true  issues  are  avoided,  and  men  attempt  to 
manufacture  sympathy  by  the  cry  of  persecu- 
tion. Let  them  bring  forth  their  strong  reasons 
— let  them  show  up  the  odious  character  of  this 
new  order,  if  it  is  such  an  abhorrent  thing. 
Let  them  grapple  with  the  dogmas  of  the  new 


OF    THE    PARTY.  121 

creed,  and,  by  clear,  cogent  reasoning,  establish 
tbat  viciousness  of  these  doctrines,  of  which  they 
complain  so  much,  and  if  it  be  successfully 
proved  that  these  principles  contravene  the 
genius  of  our  institutions,  and  conflict  with  the 
rights  of  the  humblest,  this  organization  will 
of  itself  fall  to  pieces;  for  nothing  unworthy 
will  be  sustained  by  the  people.  But  here  lies 
the  great  difficulty;  they  cannot  substantiate 
their  charges.  They  dare  not  meet  the  Ameri- 
can party  in  open  field,  nor  fight  it  with  honor- 
able weapons ;  it  is  the  guerilla  warfare  which 
is  waged  against  the  new  order. 

While  it  is  proper  here  to  avow  the  utter 
abhorrence  with  which  all  true  Americans  look 
upon  the  persecution  of  any  sect  or  religious 
denomination,  they  are  determined  to  guard 
against  such  a  contingency  in  any  case.  They 
will  not  persecute  Catholics,  but  they  will  take 
care  that  the  Catholics  do  not  persecute  Protest- 
ants. That  the  Romish  church  would  become 
intolerant,  if  she  had  the  power  to  dictate  our 
civil  and  religious  laws,  there  can  be  but  one 
opinion.  If  true  to  her  instincts,  and  consistent 
with  her  doctrines,  she  must  persecute  and  de- 
stroy, where  she  can  command  the  necessary 
power.  There  may  be  no  immediate  possibility 
to  have  everything  in  her  own  way;  but  that 
she  aims  at  supremacy  is  an  undoubted  fact. 
Men  may  ridicule  the  thought  of  danger,  and 
11 


122  THE    TEUE    POSITION 

ascribe  such  generosity  and  liberality  to  the 
Papists  as  to  believe  that,  even  if  they  had  the 
power,  they  would  not  oppress  those  who  reject 
her  authority — but  then  the  records  of  the  past 
are  fiction.  Such  a  supposition  is  at  variance 
with  the  entire  history  of  that  Church,  and 
would  subvert  her  entire  structure;  for  it  is 
held  as  one  of  the  boasted  prerogatives  of  Cath- 
olicity, that  Rome  is  unchangeable — in  spirit,  in 
doctrine,  and  in  practice !  That,  as  she  claims 
infallibility,  so  is  she  also  unchangeable  in  her 
teachings  and  usages.  Like  the  laws  of  the 
Medes  and  Persians,  according  to  her  own  show- 
ing, she  changes  not. 

Taking,  then,  the  nature  of  this  system,  a3 
set  forth  by  her  theologians,  there  must  be  uni- 
formity of  action,  where  the  circumstances  or 
the  power  of  the  Church  will  warrant  such 
action.  This  granted,  it  is  one  of  the  easiest 
things  in  the  world  to  determine  with  mathe- 
matical accuracy  how  they  would  act  here,  as 
we  have  authentic  knowledge  of  their  course 
towards  those,  in  former  times,  who  resisted 
their  claims,  and  as  we  see  the  Papacy  is  now 
manifested,  where  it  controls  the  civil  as  well 
as  the  religious  government  of  a  country.  They 
change  not ;  but  history  tells  us  that  they  have 
made  it  a  capital  offence  for  their  subjects  to 
read  the  Bible.  They  change  not,  in  doctrine 
or  spirit ;  but  they  established  an  Inquisition  for 


OF    THE    PARTY.  123 

heretics,  and,  if  her  infallibility  is  worth  any- 
thing, it  will  teach  that  there  is  a  necessity  for 
similar  institutions,  where  public  sentiment  will 
allow  it.  Thousands  of  innocent,  but  helpless, 
beings  were  immolated  on  the  horrid  altar  of 
the  Inquisition.  John  Anthony  Llorente,  a 
Spanish  ecclesiastic,  and  general  secretary  of  the 
Inquisition  of  that  kingdom,  says,  "-that  during 
the  period  from  1481  to  1808,  the  number  of 
victims  that  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion amounted  to  341,021.  Of  these,  31,912 
were  burnt,  17,659  burnt  in  effigy,  and  291,456 
were  subjected  to  severe  penance."  The  Span- 
iards established  one  in  America,  and  the  Por- 
tuguese one  in  India;  and  wherever  they  had 
the  power  these  horrid  institutions  were  created. 
As  the  doctrines  and  usages  of  Rome  are  immu- 
table, they  would,  as  certainly  as  they  would 
obtain  the  power,  create  an  Inquisition  on 
American  soil,  and  fatten  this  land  with  Ame- 
rican blood !  Rome  changes  not ;  but  she 
butchered  30,000  Huguenots  on  the  Feast  of 
St.  Bartholomew,  and  "the  Pope  ordered  a 
jubilee  and  a  procession  to  the  church  of  St. 
Louis ;  cannon  were  discharged  in  honor  of  the 
event,  and  a  Te  Deum  chanted."  The  Papists 
change  not ;  no !  for  the  imprisonment  and 
torture  of  the  Madiai  for  reading  the  Scriptures 
is  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  public.  They 
change  not ;  no !  for  the  Pope  has  still  in  his 


124  THE    TRUE    POSITION 

employ  the  blood-thirsty  executioners  of  his 
wrath,  and  loads  them  with  honors,  as  he  did 
the  infamous  Bedim,  the  murderer  of  the  noble 
Bassi  and  others,  and  who  came  on  a  grand 
mission  to  the  United  States,  and  journeyed 
through  our  country  canopied  by  the  ensign  of 
his  tyrannic  majesty.  They  change  not ;  no ! 
for  a  letter,  dated  "Lausanne,  Switzerland,  Sep- 
tember 18th,  1854,"  after  remarking  on  the 
persecuting  character  of  the  Papists,  quotes,  in 
proof  of  its  statements,  the  trial  and  condem- 
nation of  two  citizens  of  Tuscany.  "Louis 
Baldi,  a  mason,  thirty-four  years  of  age,  and 
Michel  Manguoli,  a  barber,  aged  thirty-one 
years,  both  of  them  living  at  Sesto,  a  town  situ- 
ated two  leagues  from  Florence,  have  been 
recently  arrested,  under  pretext  that  they  had 
committed  an  impious  act,  in  the  way  of  prose- 
lytism.  The  procurator's  address  is  worthy  of 
mention.  The  two  delinquents  are  accused, 
1st.  Of  having  invited  their  neighbors  to  unite 
with  them  in  reading  the  Bible,  and  even  of  ex- 
plaining it,  erecting  an  impious  altar  in  their 
houses  (catedra  d'empieta] ;  2d.  Of  having  at- 
tacked the  religion  of  the  state,  in  denying  the 
•usefulness  of  the  mass,  the  confession,  prayer 
for  the  dead,  absolution  given  by  the  priest,  and 
even  faith  in  Jesus  Christ;  3d.  "With  having 
read  anti-Catholic  books,  and  seeking  opportu- 
nities for  propagating  their  detestable  doc- 
trines, etc. 


OF    THE     PARTY.  125 

"The  accused  indignantly  rejected  the  charge 
of  having  denied  their  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 
As  to  the  other  facts,  they  sincerely  acknowledged 
that  they  believed  neither  in  the  mass,  nor  in 
the  necessity  of  extreme  unction,  nor  in  the 
worship  of  the  Virgin,  &c.  They  have  been 
condemned  to  ten  months'  imprisonment  and  to 
pay  the  expenses  of  the  trial.  The  places  which 
the  Madiai  have  vacated  in  the  dungeons  of 
Tuscany  are  therefore  now  filled  by  the  faithful 
Baldi  and  Manguoli." 

Rome  changes  not.  No !  if  her  doctors  and 
the  Pope  have  rightly  understood  her  character, 
and  have  given  a  true  exhibit  of  the  prerogatives 
she  claims ;  if  her  own  organs,  such  as  the 
Shepherd  of  the  Valley,  the  Freeman's  Journal, 
Brownson's  Review,  and  others,  are  any  authority 
in  the  case,  then  Popery  would  act  here  precisely 
as  it  has  in  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal,  France,  Ger- 
many and  England,  in  days  whose  history  is 
written  in  blood.  That  terrible  power,  if  once 
exalted  to  the  headship  of  this  country,  would 
kindle  the  fires  of  the  "  HOLY  auto  da  f6,"  on  the 
high  places  of  our  republic,  and  deluge  our 
blooming  plains  with  American  blood !  Taking, 
therefore,  a  dispassionate  view  of  the  subject,  we 
must  admit  that  the  American  party  acts  wisely, 
and  deserves  the  commendation  of  all  good  men 
for  guarding  the  high  places  of  our  republic 
against  the  intrigue  of  this  insidious  enemy  of 
11* 


126  THE    TRUE    POSITION 

spiritual  and  religious  freedom.  And  that  I 
have  studiously  refrained  from  all  exaggeration 
in  what  I  have  presented  concerning  the  Papal 
power,  I  might  abundantly  prove  from  writers 
of  their  own  communion,  and  from  those  raised 
under  their  influence  and  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  their  system. 

Pascal,  one  of  those  men  who  was  devout  and 
holy  in  spite  of  the  errors  in  which  he  grew  up, 
has  given  a  full  exposure  of  Jesuitism  in  his 
Provincial  Letters,  and  any  one  curious  to  know 
the  deep  and  dark  abominations  taught  and 
practised  by  that  influential  and  ubiquitous 
order  in  the  Romish  Church,  will  be  well  repaid 
by  the  perusal  of  that  work.  This  author,  who 
has  triumphantly  substantiated  every  proposition 
condemnatory  of  the  Jesuits  with  ample  quota- 
tions from  their  own  authors,  says  in  one  of  his 
letters :  "  They"  (the  Jesuits)  "  have  got  maxims, 
therefore,  for  all  sorts  of  persons ;  for  benefici- 
aries, for  priests,  for  monks  ;  for  gentlemen,  for 
servants ;  for  rich  men,  for  commercial  men ; 
for  people  in  embarrassed  or  indigent  circum- 
stances; for  devout  women,  and  women  not 
devout ;  for  married  people,  and  irregular  people. 
In  short,  nothing  has  escaped  their  foresight." 
And  these  maxims  constitute  a  grand  license  for 
all  grades  of  crime — "  from  a  servant  robbing 
his  master,  if  he  believes  that  his  wages  are  not 
sufficient,  a  man  or  woman  practising  adultery 


OP    THE    PARTY.  127 

if  their  passions  so  dictate,  to  the  assassination 
of  a  king,  if  the  good  of  the  Church  is  thereby 
promoted." 

In  the  introduction  of  the  Provincial  Letters, 
the  plan  of  operation  of  the  Jesuits  is  thus 
stated — "  The  policy  of  the  Society,  as  hitherto 
exhibited  in  the  countries  where  they  have 
settled,  describes  a  regular  cycle  of  changes. 
Commencing  with  loud  professions  of  charity, 
of  liberal  views  in  politics,  and  of  an  accommo- 
dating code  of  morals,  they  succeed  in  gaining 
popularity  among  the  non-religious,  the  dissi- 
pated, and  the  restless  portion  of  society. 
Availing  themselves  of  this,  and  carefully  con- 
cealing in  a  Protestant  country,  the  more  ob- 
noxious parts  of  their  creed,  their  next  step  is 
to  plant  some  of  the  most  plausible  of  their 
apostles  in  the  principal  localities,  who  are  in- 
structed to  establish  schools  and  seminaries  on 
the  most  charitable  footing,  so  as  to  ingratiate 
themselves  with  the  poor,  while  they  secure  the 
contributions  of  the  rich ;  to  attack  the  credit 
of  the  most  active  and  influential  among  the 
evangelical  ministry;  to  revive  old  slanders 
against  the  reformers  ;  to  disseminate  tracts  of 
the  most  alluring  description ;  and  when  assailed 
in  turn,  to  deny  everything,  and  to  grant  nothing. 
Rising  by  these  means  to  power  and  influence, 
they  gradually  monopolize  the  seats  of  learning, 
the  halls  of  theology;  —  they  glide  with 


128  THE    TKUE    POSITION 

noiseless  steps  into  closets,  cabinets,  and  palaces 
— they  become  the  dictators  of  the  public  press, 
the  persecutors  of  the  good,  and  the  oppressors 
of  all  public  and  private  liberty. 

"At  length,  their  treacherous  designs  being  dis- 
covered, they  rouse  against  themselves  the  storm 
of  natural  passions,  which  descending  on  them 
first  as  the  authors  of  the  mischief,  sweeps  away 
along  with  them,  in  its  headlong  career,  every- 
thing that  bears  the  aspect  of  that  active  and 
earnest  religion  under  the  guise  of  which  they 
had  succeeded  in  duping  mankind." 

Had  the  author  from  whom  we  have  quoted 
the  above,  written  a  history  of  the  operations 
and  progress  of  Jesuitism  in  this  land,  he  could 
not  have  drawn  a  more  life-like  picture  of  their 
movements,  than  he  has  done  in  the  language 
which  he  employs.  But  it  could  not  be  otherwise 
according  to  their  dogmas,  for  they  are  the  ser- 
vants of  one  master,  and  execute  with  scrupulous 
exactness  their  instructions,  and  having  but  one 
object  for  which  they  toil  with  sleepless  vigilance, 
whether  in  the  frozen  north  or  the  burning  south, 
their  mode  of  action  in  all  countries  is  uniform  so 
far  as  circumstances  will  admit.  Their  great  object 
is  to  gain  a  supreme  influence  over  the  public 
mind,  and  as  true  philosophers,  they  commence 
with  the  lower  classes  and  work  upwards.  That 
which  gives  them  an  immense  advantage  over 
those  who  oppose  fiem,  and  which  would  make 


OF    THE    PARTY.  129 

it  impossible  for  men  of  strict  integrity  to  suc- 
ceed is  that  favored  arid  omnipotent  maxim, 
"  that  the  end  justifies  the  means."  Before  this 
maxim  every  thing  that  stands  in  the  way  of 
their  progress  must  fall.  However  sacred  the 
object  that  obstructs  their  way,  it  loses  its 
inviolability  in  the  presence  of  this  maxim. 
For  what  are  human  and  divine  laws,  what  your 
life  or  property,,  your  reputation  or  your  family, 
when  these  come  between  the  "Holy  order  of 
Loyola"  and  the  high  places  of  power  ?  They, 
under  the  force  of  this  maxim,  might  hew  their 
way  to  a  throne,  and  pave  their  path  with 
crushed  and  bleeding  hearts — they  may  confis- 
cate estates,  imprison  or  kill  their  owners,  blast 
the  hopes  of  men  and  blight  the  happiness  of 
families,  build  up  or  subvert  kingdoms,  so  that 
they  may  acquire  supreme  power  in  the  State — 
"for,"  say  they,  "the  end  justifies  the  means 
employed  to  secure  it." 

And  is  this  maxim  current  among  our  Ame- 
rican Jesuits  ?  Does  Rome  change  ?  Can  the 
Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his 
spots?  They  just  as  certainly  act  upon  this 
principle  here,  as  they  do  elsewhere.  Their 
efforts  to  educate  the  rising  generation,  to 
obtain  commanding  positions,  and  to  work 
always  nearer  to  the  heart  of  the  nation  and 
the  centre  of  power,  are  as  ceaseless  as  they  are 
stealthy.  According  to  their  maxims,  it  is  even 


130  THE    TRUE    POSITION 

allowed  for  them  ostensibly  to  renounce  Popeiy, 
and  to  enter  a  Protestant  church,  if  by  such  a 
course  they  can  make  more  converts  to  Roman- 
ism. There  are,  no  doubt,  many  Jesuits  among 
us,  but  so  disguised  as  to  escape  the  knowledge 
of  those  among  whom  they  labor.  Their  great 
principle,  however,  directs  them  to  obtain,  at  all 
hazards,  the  control  of  the  educational  systems 
of  the  land.  When  Loyola,  the  founder  of  this 
order,  debated  with  his  associates .  the  rules 
which  should  govern  them,  they  differed  in 
opinion  as  to  the  prominent  and  ruling  element 
of  their  constitution — some  proposed  that  they 
should  preach,  others  that  they  should  write. 
When  contending  whether  teaching  or  preach- 
ing would  best  promote  the  interest  of  the 
society,  one  of  their  number  uttered  the  memo- 
rable sentiment,  "Let  me  teach  the  children, 
and  I  care  not  who  preaches  to  the  people." 
This  became  the  governing  principle  of  the 
order,  and  their  unparalleled  success  in  every 
country  of  the  globe  shows  its  profound  wisdom. 
In  our  land,  they  open  colleges  for  boys  and 
seminaries  for  girls ;  and  many  Protestants  send 
their  children  to  these,  for  two  reasons:  first, 
because  they  give  a  high  reputation  to  their  own 
schools;  and  next,  because  they  may  educate 
somewhat  cheaper  than  others.  And  having 
taught  the  children  of  Protestants,  they  are,  in 
many  instances,  also  permitted  to  preach  to 


OF    THE    PAKTY.  131 

them  when  they  are  grown ;  for  such  are  the 
seductive  charms  of  their  pompous  forms  of 
worship,  such  the  gorgeous  imagery  which  ap- 
peals to  the  sensibilities  of  the  youthful  imagi- 
nation, and  such  the  show  of  sanctity  on  the 
part  of  the  ruling  spirits  in  those  establish- 
ments, that  few  young  minds  come  away  from 
those  seats  of  learning  without  being  thoroughly 
Catholic  in  sentiment.  Those  pupils  are  with 
them,  say  from  three  to  four  years,  and  from 
twelve  to  sixteen,  an  age,  of  all  other  periods  in 
life,  the  most  impressible  by  outward  drapery ; 
for  it  is  the  season  of  golden  dreams,  of  the 
building  of  aerial  castles,  when  the  imaginative 
and  sensitive  faculties  of  our  nature  are  in  the 
ascendency,  and  often  darken  reason  and  pervert 
the  judgment. 

But,  to  return  to  the  point  from  which  we 
started,  the  danger  to  be  apprehended  from 
Jesuitical  influence  in  our  republic  might  be 
further  substantiated,  by  quoting  the  opinions 
of  the  ablest  writers  and  profoundest  philoso- 
phers. But  the  limits  of  this  work  will  not 
permit  us  to  argue  this  subject  at  length ;  nei- 
ther do  we  consider  it  necessary  to  present  more 
proof  of  this  position,  in  this  treatise,  than  to 
show  the  reasonableness  of  the  action  of  that 
respectable  portion  of  our  citizens  who  opposes 
the  election  of  Catholics  to  offices  of  trust. 
But,  before  dismissing  the  subject,  I  must  be 


THE    TRUE    POSITION 

permitted  to  present  a  few  extracts  from  a 
writer,  whose  nativity,  education,  and  position 
enabled  him  to  make  accurate  observations,  and 
to  speak  intelligently  on  the  subject:  "Popery," 
says  Helvetius,  "is  the  worst  religion  in  the 
world."  "Nothing  could  be  farther  apart  than 
the  morality  of  the  Jesuits  and  the  religion 
of  Jesus."  As  proof  that  he  did  them  no  injus- 
tice, he  refers  to  their  most  eminent  writers  on 
morals.  And,  as  a  case  in  point,  we  may  here 
give  an  extract  from  the  commentaries  of  St. 
Thomas.  In  treating  on  government  or  politics, 
he  says :  "  For  the  preservation  of  tyranny,  men 
of  great  power  and  riches  must  be  destroyed ; 
for  such,  by  their  power,  may  rise  against  the 
tyrant.  It  is  also  expedient  to  destroy  men  of 
talents;  for  such,  by  their  talents,  may  find 
means  to  expel  tyranny.  Nor  should  schools  be 
permitted,  or  other  assemblies,  by  which  learn- 
ing may  be  acquired ;  for  learned  men  have 
great  dispositions  and  are  magnanimous,  and 
such  easily  rebel.  For  the  support  of  ty- 
ranny, it  is  proper  that  the  tyrant  contrive  to 
make  his  subjects  accuse  each  other  of  crimes, 
and  molest  each  other,  so  that  friends  may  attack 
friends,  the  mean  people  the  rich,  and  the  rich 
one  another;  for  by  their  divisions  they  will  be 
the  less  able  to  rise  against  him.  It  is  also 
necessary  to  impoverish  the  people;  for  they 
will  thereby  be  less  able  to  rise  against  the 


OP    THE    PARTY.  133 

tyrant.  Taxes  should  be  established ;  that  is, 
exactions,  which  should  be  great  and  in  great 
number;  for  thereby  the  subjects  will  be  the 
sooner  impoverished.  The  tyrant  should  excite 
wars  among  his  subjects  or  strangers,  so  that  the 
people  may  have  no  opportunity  of  conspiring 
against  him.  .  It  is  expedient  that  a  tyrant,  for 
the  support  of  tyranny,  do  not  appear  severe  or 
cruel  to  his  subjects;  for,  by  appearing  cruel, 
he  will  render  himself  odious;  but  he  should 
render  himself  respectable,  by  an  excellence  in 
some  eminent  virtue.  If  Tie  have  no  virtues,  let 
him  so  deceive  his  subjects  that  they  may  think  he 
has,  that  they  may  respect  him." 

Such  are  the  teachings  of  St.  Thomas  in  his 
treatise  on  politics ;  and  we  agree  with  an  emi- 
nent writer  in  opinion,  that  "these  are  very 
strange  sentiments  in  the  mouth  of  a  saint." 
And  yet  far  more  atrocious  doctrines  we  might 
cite  from  the  Jesuit  fathers,  such  as  Escobar, 
M.  le  Moine,  Vanquez,  Bauny,  and  a  multitude 
of  others.  And,  whatever  may  be  affirmed  as 
to  the  independence  of  Catholics  in  this  country, 
and  their  freedom  from  the  influence  of  such 
casuists  as  those  mentioned,  it  is  enough  for  us 
to  know,  that  the  father-confessors  of  this  coun- 
try are  nearly  all  Jesuits,  and  that  Rome  does 
not  change !  Den's  Theology,  which  abounds 
in  monstrous  doctrines,  such  as  justifying  the 
killing  of  heretics,  and  various  other  great 
12 


134  THE    TRUE    POSITION 

crimes,  is  used  as  a  text-book  in  some  of  the 
most  noted  theological  schools  belonging  to  that 
Church.  The  Church  of  Rome  is  the  most  op- 
pressive and  tyrannical  despotism  on  the  face 
of  the  globe.  It  humbles  its  subjects  to  the 
meanest  vassals,  allows  them  neither  individu- 
ality, nor  a  single  element,  either  intellectual, 
moral,  or  physical,  over  which  its  iron  rule  does 
not  extend.  It  is  emphatically,  as  M.  Guizot 
says,  in  his  "  Cours  d'ffistoire  Moderne"  con- 
cerning the  demands  of  Rome :  "  Whatever  we 
possess  most  intimate,  most  individual  and  free 
— conscience,  thought,  and  interior  life — is  con- 
cerned ;  to  abdicate  the  government  of  one's  self, 
to  deliver  one's  self  up  to  a  foreign  power,  is  a 
true  moral  suicide,  a  servitude  a  hundred  times 
worse  than  that  of  the  body  or  the  soul." 

From  these  considerations  it  is  sufficiently 
manifest  that  the  American  party  has  under- 
taken no  bootless  enterprise,  nor  is  it  fighting  a 
man  of  straw.  They  would  guard  the  land  from 
the  influence  of  such  morality,  and  they  would, 
above  all,  defend  the  altars  of  liberty  from  the 
touch  and  rule  of  those  whose  confessors  would 
readily  absolve  them  for  exciting  civil  discord, 
for  burning  heretics,  for  oppression,  or  any  other 
flagrant  crime,  the  commission  of  which  might 
be  thought  necessary  to  the  establishment  and 
aggrandizement  of  the  papacy  in  this  land.  Do 
you  still  ask  where  is  the  use  of  an.  American 


OF    THE    PARTY.  135 

party  ?  Do  you  still  denounce  them  for  assuming 
a  defensive  attitude  ?  Is  there  not  a  call  for 
resisting  the  encroachments  of  the  Papal  power 
and  guarding  our  holy  things  against  foreign 
influence  ? 

Behold  the  exertions  made  for  the  advance- 
ment of  Popery !  Look  at  the  vast  number  of 
their  establishments  —  the  various  positions  in 
the  social  and  political  circles  to  which  they 
have  gained  access !  What  mean  these  national 
councils !  Is  there  not  something  arrogant  in 
the  name — does  not  the  manner  in  which  they 
are  convoked  scent  of  former  domination  !  And 
why  these  provincial  councils  ?  What  means 
that  grand  gathering  of  ecclesiastics  from  Europe, 
Asia,  Africa,  and  America,  at  Rome !  0,  it  is, 
say  they,  to  determine  the  question  of  the  im- 
maculate conception.  Yes,  the  ostensible  occa- 
sion is  this  childish  question  —  but  matter  far 
weightier  to  the  interests  of  Home,  are  the  sub- 
jects of  their  earnest  discussions,  and  among 
these,  American  politics.  While  these  prelates 
are  scheming  and  plotting,  it  is  our  duty  to 
watch ! 

I  repeat,  therefore,  that  the  true  position  of 
the  American  party  has  been  grossly  misrepre- 
sented. They  will  not  persecute  Catholics,  but 
they  will  see  to  it  that  Rome  does  not  persecute 
us.  With  no  disposition  to  injure  any,  but  with 


136  THE    TRUE    POSITION,    ETC. 

a  desire  to  accord  to  all  such  immunities  as  they 
shall  have  capacity  to  enjoy,  this  party  will  pur- 
sue the  even  tenor  of  its  way,  until  the  network 
of  Jesuitism  is  fully  exposed,  and  our  institutions 
forever  secured  against  its  fatal  power,  and  our 
land  from  the  withering  blight  of  the  anathemas 
of  Rome ! 


AN    ARGUMENT,    ETC.  .137 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  RAPID  PROGRESS  AND  WIDE  EXTENT  OF  ITS 
INFLUENCE,  AN  ARGUMENT  FOR  THE  EXCELLENCE 
OF  THE  AMERICAN  PARTY. 


are  taught,  among  the  first  principles  of 
philosophy,  that  there  must  be  a  correspondence 
between  the  cause  and  its  effects.  The  magni- 
tude of  the  one  controls  the  extent  of  the  other. 
It  is  a  principle  of  universal  application  in  regard 
to  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  nature,  and  holds 
good  in  the  moral  and  political  world.  There 
can  be  no  disproportion  between  a  cause  and  its 
effects.  This  is  more  especially  the  case  in  a 
popular  form  of  government  like  ours.  Here 
the  power  to  produce  political  changes  resides  in 
the  people,  and  whenever  an  adequate  cause 
calls  this  power  into  play,  and  concentrates  its 
exertions  it  will  manifest  itself  in  such  revolu- 
tions in  public  sentiment  as  we  have  recently 
witnessed  in  the  different  States  of  this  Union. 
We  regard  the  rapid  diffusion  of  the  principles 
of  the  new  order  as  a  conclusive  argument  of 
their  potency. 

They  must  have  those  properties  which  com- 
12* 


138  AN    ARGUMENT    FOR 

mend  them  to  the  good  sense  of  thinking  minds, 
and  do  address  themselves  to  the  noblest  instincts 
of  a  cultivated  intellect.  A  delusion  may  gain 
friends  for  a  day,  but  they  will  melt  away 
before  the  public  sentiment,  as  the  mist  before 
the  morning  sun.  Something  that  is  real  and 
substantial  will  attract  men  of  like  character. 
The  law  of  affinity  acts  with  as  much  force 
in  the  moral,  as  in  the  material  world.  In 
this  movement  are  found  many  of  the  most 
sterling  men  that  our  country  boasts.  Men  who 
have  not  been  conspicuous  in  party  strife,  nor 
prominent  actors  in  those  political  scenes,  which 
have  at  different  times  agitated  the  social  state. 
They  are,  for  the  most  part,  our  quiet,  order- 
loving,  practical  citizens,  who  never  rise  in  the 
majesty  of  their  strength,  unless  some  powerful 
motive  seizes  their  minds,  and,  whenever  they  do 
exert  themselves,  their  action  is  entitled  to  re- 
spect. There  is  nothing  more  clear  then,  than, 
that  the  cause  which  waked  up  so  many  pure  men 
in  our  wide-spread  confederacy  to  change  the  po- 
litical aspect  of  the  nation  carried  within  its  bosom 
a  tremendous  energy — the  results  of  its  exertion 
are  now  spread  out  before  us  for  examination. 

And  here  we  may  state  another  rule  by  which 
to  estimate  the  nature  of  a  cause,  or  the  charac- 
ter of  an  organization,  i.  e.,  by  the  effect  which 
it  produces.  Applying  this  rule  when  gradua- 
ting the  inherent  excellence  of  the  American 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  139 

party,  we  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  vindicating 
it  from  those  aspersions  which  have  been  cast 
upon  it,  nor  in  refuting  the  calumnies  that  have 
been  so  freely  uttered  against  it.  They  have 
given  rise  to  effects  that  have  amazed  and  con- 
founded their  enemies.  They  have  elected  their 
nominees,  and  have  thus  taken  the  government 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  old  parties,  and  entrusted 
it  to  others.  Such  changes  are  not  only  attended 
with  good,  but  sometimes  become  absolutely 
necessary.  Human  nature  is  too  weak  not  to 
be  corrupted  in  a  long  uninterrupted  enjoyment 
of  power.  Whatever  party  may  be  favored  with 
a  frequent  succession  of  victories  and  remain  for 
a  long  period  in  power,  is  liable  to  have  its 
officials  corrupted.  There  are  so  many  ways  in 
which  men  may  make  their  offices  tributary  to 
large  gains,  that  few  have  a  sufficient  stock  of 
virtue  successfully  to  resist  for  a  long  time,  the 
temptations  so  repeatedly  offered.  With  all  the 
natural  desires  for  that  influence  which  affluent 
circumstances  never  fail  to  command,  stimulated 
by  the  force  of  example  and  the  pressure  of  ex- 
ternal things,  they  gradually  imitate  the  acts  of 
some  .corrupt  predecessor.  The  conviction,  that 
long  official  prosperity  to  the  individual  or  the 
party,  is  not  fitted  to  promote  the  highest 
national  prosperity,  had  gained  a  strong  hold 
upon  the  public  mind,  and  the  frequent  delin- 
quencies of  those  in  responsible  situations  had 


140  AN    ARGUMENT    FOR 

fully  prepared  them  for  the  change,  which  they 
are  now  working  through  this  new  order. 

The  manner,  moreover,  in  which  the  old 
parties  conducted  their  business  afforded  ample 
opportunity  for  the  most  unprincipled  men  to 
slip  into  lucrative  offices.  Why,  the  President, 
in  his  message  to  Congress,  December,  1854, 
calls  for  legislation  to  secure  to  the  government 
the  books  of  its  public  officers,  which,  it  appears, 
the  incumbents  claimed  as  private  property,  thus 
affording  the  best  means  of  preventing  the  de- 
tection of  frauds  committed.  These  corruptions 
are  therefore  not  imaginary,  but  real  and  wide- 
spread, and  so  palpable  that  the  people  could 
not  be  ignorant  of  them.  Perhaps  nearly  all 
this  perversion  of  the  public  funds  to  private 
uses,  may  be  traced  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
elections  are  conducted,  legislation  secured,  and 
the  appointing  power  influenced.  The  whole 
fraternity  of  officials,  all  over  the  country,  is 
manufactured  at  Washington.  Everything  de- 
pends upon  the  success  of  an  individual  or 
measure  in  a  small  caucus.  Colonel  Benton,  in 
a  letter  to  his  constituents,  speaking  of  the  Ne- 
braska bill,  says:  "You  have  all  heard  of  the 
measure,  but  you  do  not  know  that  it  is  the 
work  of  a  caucus  of  eight,  who  had  the  bill 
changed  after  it  had  been  brought  in,  and  did  it 
to  substitute  geographical  for  practical  parties, 
and  to  govern  the  next  Presidential  election." 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  141 

It  is,  no  doubt,  true,  and  it  is  by  no  means  an 
isolated  illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  a 
few  men  make  the  President,  or  carry  an  im- 
portant political  measure.  This  has  acted  to  the 
injury  of  the  country,  by  giving  us  incompetent 
or  unworthy  rulers.  This  party  machinery  was 
so  skilfully  arranged  and  worked  by  a  few 
ruling  spirits,  that  the  election  of  men  was  sel- 
dom an  expression  of  the  choice  of  the  people. 
This  was  an  evil  so  generally  felt,  as  to  produce 
a  simultaneous  rising  of  the  people  against 
this  monstrous  prostitution  of  their  privileges, 
and  this  infamous  game,  so  long  and  so  success- 
fully played.  And  here  is  one  reason  why  so 
many  thousands  were  ripe  for  the  movement 
that  has  planted  its  standard  so  suddenly  in 
every  State.  And  if  the  new  order  has  done 
nothing  more  than  to  defeat  some  of  these 
scheming  politicians,  it  would  deserve  the  gra- 
titude of  honorable  men.  But  it  has  transferred 
official  authority  into  new  hands ;  and  we  believe 
those  whom  it  has  invested  with  power  are,  as 
far  as  we  know,  competent,  honest,  and  ener- 
getic men. 

The  progress,  therefore,  of  the  American  party 
has  thus  far  been  highly  beneficial ;  it  has  not 
merely  effected  a  change  in  the  powers  that  be, 
but  its  reflex  influence  upon  the  old  parties  will 
be  healthful.  They  must  view  this  spontaneous 
rising  of  the  people  as  a  severe  rebuke  upon 


142  AN    ARGUMENT    FOB 

their  conduct ;  and,  seeing  that  it  was  so  effec- 
tually and  faithfully  administered,  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  they  will  profit  by  the  lesson. 

Another  cause,  which  has  contributed  to  the 
rapid  diffusion  of  the  principles  of  the  new 
order,  we  rank  as  very  efficient — the  abrogation 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  The  fact  is  un- 
questionable, that  it  was  unexpected,  and  there- 
fore shocked  the  sensibilities  of  the  nation. 
The  people,  North  and  South,  had  not  forgotten 
how  the  birth-throes  of  that  compromise  had 
rent  the  national  system  with  keen  anguish,  nor 
the  joy  which  caused  the  nation  to  forget  the 
pangs,  when  it  was  received  as  a  mediator  be- 
tween the  conflicting  sectional  opinions.  The 
author  of  that  bill  which  ejected  this  child  from 
the  national  family,  must  indeed  have  supposed 
us  an  easy  prey,  and  overrated  our  stupidity, 
when  he  thought  that  we  could  not  penetrate 
his  shallow  sophistry.  We  might  have  respected 
him  for  honest  intentions,  if  the  bait  by  which 
he  meant  to  catch  us  Southerners  had  not  been 
so  superficially  gilded.  The  reflecting  portion 
on  this  side  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  are 
not  carried  away  by  empty  sounds,  nor  regard 
that  as  an  advantage  to  their  interests,  which 
can  only  operate  to  their  hurt.  We  plead 
guilty  to  a  sort  of  pleasure  (though  not  ma- 
licious), when  that  dead,  but  honored,  com- 
promise inflicted  such  a  blow  upon  the  little 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  143 

giant  who  undertook  its  demolition,  as  to 
stun  him  effectually.  Though  so  eloquently 
pronounced  dead !  dead !  dead !  I  suspect 
that  some  of  the  energy  of  its  distinguished 
framers  lingered  within  it;  for  it  has  really 
shown  signs  of  resuscitation,  and  done  a  vast 
deal  of  mischief  to  those  who  dealt  so  unmer- 
cifully with  it.  Ay,  it  is  a  thing  of  power ;  for 
it  was  a  household  deity  of  the  nation,  and  no 
wonder  it  has  paralyzed  the  hand  that  irreve- 
rently touched  it.  But  its  end  is  not  yet;  for  it 
will  unquestionably  blight  the  hopes  and  cool 
the  ambition  of  him  who  figured  so  conspicu- 
ously at  its  immolation.  The  author  of  that 
bill,  which  has  so  seriously  impaired  the  na- 
tional faith  in  compromises,  boasted,  in  his 
speech  delivered  in  Philadelphia,  July  4,  1854, 
at  a  meeting  got  up  to  kill  off  the  Know-No- 
things, that  he  would  teach  them  to  know  some- 
thing I  A  very  immodest  boast ;  but  since  then 
the  parties  have  changed  positions,  and  the  self- 
constituted  teacher  has  become  the  pupil,  and, 
I  trust,  has  been  taught  a  wholesome  lesson  by 
those  whom  he  kindly  volunteered  to  instruct. 

Alas !  for  the  mutability  of  human  things, 
and  human  hopes !  A  despicable  insect  may 
sink  the  proudest  vessel,  or  prostrate  the  noblest 
monarch  of  the  forest ;  and  so  a  little  too  much 
ardency,  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure  for  the 


144  AN    ARGUMENT    FOR 

Presidency,  has,  I  fear,  unshipped  the  game. 
Though  thoroughly  democratic  in  sentiment  and 
sympathy,  I  cannot,  with  all  the  recollections  of 
the  past,  bring  a  single  tear  to  the  political  grave 
of  this  self-constituted  champion  of  the  Democ- 
racy. The  Democracy  is  truly  a  rock,  impreg- 
nable, as  he  recently  affirmed  in  the  West ;  but 
his  ship  has  broken  loose  from  its  moorings, 
and  has  become  the  sport  of  the  waves.  Though 
professing  no  special  fondness  for  black-coats, 
his  assault  upon  those  clergymen  who  protested 
against  the  passage  of  his  favorite  bill,  struck 
me  as  very  unstatesman-like.  I  have  no  par- 
tiality for  that  class  of  citizens  above  others,  and 
I  think  they  may  sometimes  busy  themselves 
too  much  with  the  affairs  of  Csesar ;  still,  when 
a  man  pronounces  a  body  so  highly  lauded  by 
Daniel  Webster  for  their  intelligence,  learning, 
piety,  etc.,  stupid,  ignorant,  and  fanatical,  I  am 
tempted  to  infer,  that  one  who  characterizes  his 
fellow-citizens,  who  oppose  a  political  measure 
in  a  legitimate  way,  by  such  epithets,  may  pos- 
sess these  commodities  to  a  larger  extent  than 
those  upon  whom  he  so  liberally  bestows  them. 
But,  not  to  enlarge  on  this  point,  I  would 
simply  remark,  that  we  have  a  forcible  illustra- 
tion, in  the  progress  and  triumph  of  the  Ameri- 
can Party,  of  the  fact,  that  wrhen  the  voice  of 
the  people  is  disregarded  by  legislators,  they  will 
be  heard  at  the  ballot-box.  When  representa- 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  145 

tives  cease  to  respect  the  wishes  of  those  from 
whom  they  derive  their  power,  and  manifest  a 
determination  so  far  to  transcend  the  business 
of  legislation,  as  also  to  dictate  to  the  people 
the  opinions  they  are  to  hold,  or  carry  their 
measures  in  the  face  of  popular  remonstrances, 
they  hazard  their  places ;  for  an  intelligent  con- 
stituency will  claim  the  privilege  of  regarding 
their  legislators  as  their  servants.  And  here  it 
may  not  he  amiss  to  notice  the  great  good  which 
the  new  party  is  destined  to  accomplish.  Since 
the  honored  compromise  has  been  set  aside,  the 
national  convention  of  the  "Know-Nothings" 
has  made  the  integrity  of  the  Union  a  funda- 
mental principle  in  its  creed;  it  therefore  will 
bind  in  harmony  this  glorious  republic,  and  do 
what  politicians  have  failed  to  do,  restore  confi- 
dence and  good-will  between  the  different  inte- 
rests of  this  land. 

This  party  has  displayed  an  energy  for  which 
partizans  could  not  account — but  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  understand  why  its  influence  is  so  wide- 
spread, and  its  strength  so  irresistible,  when  we 
keep  in  view  the  source  of  its  origin  and  suste- 
nance. The  people  are  penetrated  with  a  con- 
viction of  the  justness  of  its  principles,  and  of 
the  exalted  character  of  its  objects.  "While  I 
would  not  fully  endorse  the  sentiment  "Vox 
populi,  vox  Dei,"  I  do  not  hesitate  to  declare 
that  as  a  general  principle,  it  contains  much 
13 


146  AN    ARGUMENT    FOR 

truth.  The  reflecting  members  of  communities 
do  neither  create,  nor  sanction  a  popular  move- 
ment not  justified  by  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  are  placed,  or  which  the  good  of  the  coun- 
try does  not  demand.  "We  are  bound  to  respect 
a  great  popular  movement.  And  more  particu- 
larly when,  as  in  this  instance,  its  energy  comes 
from  that  class  in  society  which  is  not  tossed 
about  on  the  fluctuating  waves  of  passion.  Such 
we  regard  the  individuals  who  compose  the  new 
organization. 

After  carefully  studying  the  character  of  those 
who  have  been  elected  to  offices  of  trust,  I  am 
satisfied  that  if  the  future  candidates  of  the  party 
are  as  judiciously  selected,  the  country  will  have 
reason  to  be  grateful  for  the  change  in  its  rulers. 
This  feature  in  the  new  order  has  exerted  a 
powerful  influence  in  its  favor.  It  has  aided  in 
making  its  advancement  visible  and  glorious ! 

In  contemplating  the  ubiquity  of  this  new  but 
numerous  party,  and  the  immense  influence 
which  it  has  acquired,  we  are  amazed  at  its 
achievements.  Here  human  exertion  rises  to 
grandeur  because  linked  with  the  great  interests 
of  the  nation,  and  its  efforts  are  as  lofty  as  they 
are  glorious,  because  glowing  with  the  spirit  of 
a  pure  patriotism  !  Its  progress  has  been  with- 
out a  parallel — rapid,  sure,  triumphant !  In  this 
we  find  the  best  evidence  that  it  is  possessed  of 
those  properties  of  excellence  which  commend 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  147 

it  to  the  good  sense  of  men.  It  cannot  be  a 
delusion — it  lias  nothing  of  fanaticism  about  it. 
And  possessed  of  such  characteristics  as  already 
indicated,  and  made  up  of  sterling  men,  it  must 
be  as  permanent  in  its  influence,  as  the  causes 
which  have  given  it  existence  are  durable. 
Should  the  party  ever  deem  it  expedient  to  dis- 
solve, after  its  work  is  accomplished,  its  princi- 
ples will  live !  Live !  and  remain  operative  in 
our  government,  while  the  purpose  lives  in 
American  heart,  that  the  ensign  of  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  is  the  only  one  that  ever  dare  kiss 
the  breezes  which  fan  the  graves  of  our  noble 
sires.  These  principles  will  rise  and  grow  in 
importance,  as  our  population  increases,  and 
blending  with  all  the  great  interests  of  our 
nation,  they  will  constitute  a  permanent  part  in 
our  history,  and  interwoven  with  all  that  we 
cherish,  the  conservative  influence  of  the  Ameri- 
can party  will  be  as  perpetual  as  the  glory  of 
this  Republic. 


148  THE    PLAN    ADOPTED    BY 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  PLAN  OF  OPERATION  ADOPTED  BY  THE  AMERI- 
CAN PARTY. 

IT  is  the  privilege  of  every  party  to  dictate  the 
plan  of  its  operations.  Against  this  none  has  a 
right  to  object,  so  long  as  the  rules  adopted  are 
honorable,  and  do  not  conflict  with  individual 
or  social  rights.  But  their  mode  of  action  is 
perhaps  the  most  objectionable  feature  in  the 
American  party,  to  those  who  are  pledged  to  crush 
it.  Not  to  enter  into  that  acrimonious  warfare  to 
which  our  politicians  have  been  so  long  accus- 
tomed, is  in  their'  estimation  an  unpardonable 
offence.  They  have,  therefore,  resorted  to  every 
species  of  tactics  to  bring  the  "  KDOW-Nothings" 
out  upon  the  public  arena,  and  engage  in  those 
conflicts  where  passion  triumphs  over  reason.  A 
peculiarity  of  the  new  order,  in  contradistinction 
from  the  old  parties  is  this,  that  every  man  does 
his  own  thinking,  informs  himself  of  the  questions 
at  issue,  and  the  character  and  qualifications  of 
the  different  candidates,  and  then  like  a  sensible 
man  goes  to  the  polls  and  votes  according  to 
the  convictions  of  his  judgment.  Now  this  pro- 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  149 

cedure  is  so  novel  compared  with  the  practice 
formerly  in  vogue  of  preparing  the  tickets,  after 
having  done  the  thinking  of  their  satellites,  that 
we  marvel  not  that  those  important  gentlemen  to 
whom  this  work  was  specially  intrusted,  should 
grumble  because  of  this  innovation  upon  what 
they  conceived  to  .be  their  legitimate  prerogative. 

"We  are  sometimes  amused  when  looking  at 
the  flounderiugs  of  those  who  work  themselves 
into  paroxysms  of  distress  because  they  cannot 
rout  these  invisible  agents.  "Well,  it  is  provoking 
to  be  conscious  of  a  present  evil,  and  yet  not 
able  to  lay  hold  of  it.  They  find  themselves  in 
a  like  condition  with  the  Irishman  tormented  by 
a  flea,  he  put  his  finger  upon  it,  and  it  was  not 
there. 

Among  the  many  doleful  notes  which  are 
echoed  from  the  organs  that  are  out  of  tune,  I 
may  here  submit  a  few  choice  extracts.  They 
are  taken  from  an  old  Democratic  organ,  and  I 
will  do  the  gifted  editor  the  justice  to  say  that 
his  organ  makes  less  discordant  music  than 
many  others.  As  I  always  had  an  aversion  to 
presenting  the  worst  features  of  a  man's  creed,  or 
circumstances,  I  have  felt  bound  in  the  exercise 
of  charity,  to  cull  from  the  most  elevated  and 
dignified  journals  which  I  could  find  among  the 
party  press.  These  appeals  to  the  people  have 
assuredly  one  property  that  should  make  them 
effective,  they  undoubtedly  come  from  the  heart. 
13*  " 


150  THE    PLAN    ADOPTED    BY 

It  is  an  established  opinion  among  men  who 
have  studied  the  science  of  language,  that  at  first 
it  consisted  mainly  of  interjections,  because  these 
express  the  sensations  of  the  emotional  nature  of 
man.  It  is,  therefore,  on  no  slight  grounds  that 
we  accord  this  high  attribute  to  the  appeals  of 
this  editor.  Let  us  hear  him  while  he  calls 
attention  to  the  letter  of  the  Hon.  II.  A.  Wise, 
against  the  Know-Nothings : — 

""We  repeat  then  that  we  appeal  to  your 
honesty,  and  in  all  sincerity  and  candor,  to  read 
and  resist  conscientiously  if  you  can,  the  irre- 
sistible conclusions  arrived  at  by  Mr.  Wise,  before 
that  tribunal  which  sits  to  decide  upon  all  your 
mental  operations,  your  own  judgment.  We 
make  this  appeal  to  you  as  honest  and  upright 
men ;  as  men  of  common  integrity,  as  men  who 
desire  to  see  the  right  and  to  be  guided  by  it, 
as  men  who  do  not  possess  and  practise  that 
which  they  do  not  know  to  be  right." 

All  very  honest  and  sincere,  and  we  do 
earnestly  hope  that  all  who  may  have  the  oppor- 
tunity will  attentively  read  Mr.  Wise's  letter,  for 
it  will  assuredly  greatly  fortify  them  in  their 
convictions  already  formed  of  the  necessity  of 
entrusting  for  awhile  into  other  hands  the  affairs 
of  government.  But  it  seemed  that  as  many 
of  the  Democrats  broke  loose  from  the  traces 
where  they  had  long  worked  under  the  lash,  they 
may  have  felt  as  though  they  could  dispense 


THE    AMERICAN    PAKTT.  151 

with  the  weekly  catechism  of  politics,  and  dis- 
continued their  papers,  and  on  this  point  he  is 
also  eloquent.  He  continues : — "  We  have  been 
advised,  we  have  been  warned,  and  that,  too,  by 
those  whom  we  had  reason  to  believe  were  our 
friends,  to  be  lenient  towards  the  '  Know-Noth- 
ings,' 'for,'  say  they,  'they  will  stop  your  paper.' 

*  *  *  Are  we  then  to  be  proscribed  for 
daring  to  do  what  we  conceive  to  be  right? 
Must  we  too  be  proscribed  for  holding  and  daring 
to  maintain  honest  opinions  of  our  own  ?  Will 
we  be  proscribed  for  our  non-proscription  ?  If 
so,  then  where  is  the  liberty  of  the  American 
press  ?  Is  that  too  gone  ?  Will  you  seek  to  de- 
stroy it  too,  together  with  the  right  of  expatria- 
tion, and  the  liberty  of  conscience  ?  God  forbid ! 
O  liberty !  O  sound  once  delightful  to  every 
American  ear !  0  glorious  principle  of  religious 
toleration !  O  sacred  privilege  of  American 
citizenship  !  Once  sacred,  now  trampled  upon  ! 
But  what  then  !  is  it  come  to  this  ?  Shall  an 
American  citizen  be  proscribed  for  his  religion  ? 
Shall  he  cease  to  worship  his  God  according  to 
the  dictates  of  his  conscience,  or  be  deprived  of 
his  civil  rights  ?  O  beware  how  you  attempt  to 
destroy  the  most  sacred  of  human  rights !" 

There  now,  is  not  that  from  the  heart  ?  Is  it 
not  the  profound  of  human  pathos  ?  It  is  touch- 
ing and  eloquent,  and  it  only  lacks  one  thing  to 
sway  every  American  heart,  as  the  unchained 


152  THE    PLAN    ADOPTED    BY 

hurricane  sways  and  prostrates  the  forest — it 
lacks  the  force  of  truth. 

If  my  honorable  brother  is  cool,  I  will  reason  a 
bit  with  him.  On  the  first  point  we  are  agreed : 
we  think  all  the  "  Know-Nothings"  should  read 
Mr.  "Wise's  letter,  for  Mr.  "Wise  is  a  smart  man, 
and  should  be  heard,  and  as  he  is  the  representa- 
tive of  a  district  of  which  it  is  said  he  once 
boasted,  "  that  not  a  single  paper  was  published 
within  its  limits,"  we  would  recommend  that  his 
constituents  be  furnished  with  a  few  notes  and 
comments  on  his  letter  at  the  expense  of  the 
"  Know-Nothings." 

As  to  the  next  point,  our  brother  labors  under 
a  slight  misapprehension,  when  he  supposes  that 
every  paper  discontinued  is  an  expressed  or 
avowed  effort  to  proscribe  the  American  press. 
It  is  a  kind  of  proscription  very  commonly  felt 
by  editors.  There  is  a  rascal  who  has  not  paid 
his  subscription  for  ten  years;  his  bill  is  pre- 
sented, and  he  is  offended  and  discontinues  — 
and  proscribes  you,  eh  ?  Why,  my  good  sir,  it 
is  one  "  of  the  most  sacred  of  human  rights," 
to  discontinue  a  paper,  when  it  does  not  edify, 
instruct,  or  suit  the  taste  of  the  reader.  "  I  do 
not  know,"  but  it  strikes  me  that  it  is  not  very 
modest  to  proclaim  a  discontinuance  an  act  of 
proscription ;  for,  if  so  construed,  then  it  must 
be  implied  that,  all  things  considered,  your  paper 
is  the  most  reliable  exponent  of  the  public  senti- 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  153 

ment,  and  the  best  guide  to  public  policy,  and 
the  undoubted  model  after  which  every  man's 
opinion  should  be  formed.  "I  don't  know," 
but  it  occurs  to  me  that  this  principle,  no  doubt 
hastily  annunciated,  will  react  with  disastrous 
effect  upon  its  author ;  for,  according  to  his  own 
showing,  he  proscribes  every  merchant,  me- 
chanic, farmer  and  others,  whose  commodities 
he  does  not  purchase,  because  he  finds  better 
supplies  elsewhere. 

Another,  no  doubt  unintentional,  error,  is  his 
implied  charge,  that  the  American  party  aims 
to  abolish  religious  toleration,  or  freedom  to 
worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  a  man's 
conscience.  Why,  my  dear  sir,  they  are  the 
friends  and  defenders  of  this  glorious  principle 
of  our  Constitution ;  they  will  have  nothing  to 
do  with  proscription,  farther  than,  by  legitimate 
means,  to  prevent  such  an  abhorrent  consumma- 
tion. But  for  these  slight  errors,  he  might  be 
taken  for  one  of  the  party,  and  the  composition 
would  have  been  almost  faultless ;  and  we  really 
regret  the  waste  of  so  many  beautiful  interjec- 
tions. The  O  is  always  pretty,  whether  from 
the  notion  of  Hogarth,  that  curved  lines  are  the 
most  beautiful,  or  from  the  fact  that  they  fall  on 
the  paper  like  round  drops  of  the  heart's  sym- 
pathies, it  is  not  now  necessary  to  determine. 
We  really  lament  this  waste  of  piety  and  pa- 
triotism ;  for  both  are  sacred,  and  should  not  be 


154  THE    PLAN    ADOPTED    BY 

prostituted  to  maintain  a  crooked  or  unjust 
proposition,  that  has  sprung  from  a  clouded 
brain.  The  conclusion  of  this  able  editorial  is 
a  quotation  from  a  gifted  author,  on  the  horrors 
of  oppression,  and  so  inappropriate  to  the  use 
which  this  gentleman  has  made  of  it,  that  it  is 
like  Hudibras's  blunderbuss,  which, 

"  Whether  aimed  at  duck  or  plover, 
Always  knocked  its  owner  over." 

But  it  is  time  to  dismiss  this  analysis  of  edito- 
rials finding  fault  with  the  order  and  the  mode 
of  its  operations;  for  this  specimen  is  quite 
sufficient  to  form  a  just  opinion  of  the  grounds 
of  complaint  against  the  American  party.  The 
unpardonable  oifence  is,  that  these  new  converts 
do  not  come  back,  like  dutiful  children,  and  tell 
their  mammas  that  they  have  fallen  in  love  with 
that  youth  whom  I  have  introduced  to  the  reader, 
and  who  has  already  so  greatly  distinguished 
himself,  and  in  such  a  quiet  way.  But  they 
ought  to  be  generous  and  pardon  this  slight 
delinquency,  in  consideration  of  their  former 
obedience  and  service.  Let  them  try  their  for- 
tunes ;  they  may,  after  all,  have  made  a  good 
choice,  in  taking  this  quiet  attend-to-your-own- 
business  kind  of  companion,  and  their  life  may 
be  quite  as  sunny  and  conducive  to  the  public 
good,  as  it  would  have  been  if  linked  with  that 
old  stern-knock-down  and  kick-out  sort  of  fellow. 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  155 

Seriously,  this  quiet  mode  of  conducting  their 
business  is  something  which  pleases  the  people 
amazingly.  "  They  don't  know,"  but  they  were 
really  "  tired  of  hickory-poles,  pokeberry-stocks, 
coons,  and  log-cabins,'.'  and  they  think  it  is  time 
to  stop  this  insult  to  their  intelligence.  The 
ladies,  too,  (may  the  angels  live  forever !)  have 
sober  gallants  and  husbands,  as  well  during 
an  election  campaign  and  after  as  before,  which 
was  not  always  the  case.  The  people  "don't 
know,"  but  they  have  a  notion  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  ignite  the  passions,  until  the  whole  land 
is  like  a  seething  and  boiling  cauldron,  and  then 
gather  from  its  steaming  bosom  their  chief  ma- 
gistrate. They  "  don't  know,"  but  they  have  a 
notion  that  they  can  act  rather  more  wisely 
when  cool,  and  vote  perhaps  more  intelligently, 
after  they  have  quietly  considered  what  they 
should  do.  They  "  don't  know,"  but  they  seem 
to  think  they  should  carry  those  business  habits 
which  they  have  found  good  and  practicable  in 
the  various  vocations  of  human  industry,  into 
the  exercise  of  their  political  privileges.  The 
merchant  does  not  select  the  coffee-house  or  the 
exchange  as  a  place  where  to  project  his 
schemes,  or  to  measure  his  resources  to  carry 
them  out,  but  the  private  study;  and  when 
alone  with  his  ledgers,  he  forms  his  plans ;  and 
when  these  show  themselves  in  their  affluent 
revenues,  it  is  time  enough  for  the  public  to 


156  THE    PLAN    ADOPTED    BY 

pronounce  upon  the  wisdom  of  his- measures. 
There  has  never  been  any  complaint  against 
this  course  of  action  on  the  part  of  individuals 
— is  the  principle  vitiated  when  it  is  transferred 
from  the  individual  to  the  association  ?  Is  not 
:  a  well-organized  society  just  as  essentially  and 
philosophically  a  unit  as  man  in  his  isolated 
sphere  ? 

Well,  this  is  the  plan  upon  which  the  Ameri- 
can party  has  acted ;  they  are  governed  by 
similar  rules  and  guided  by  like  considerations, 
which  control  the  action  of  the  successful  mer- 
chant or  citizen.  "Why  should  I  work  myself 
into  a  frenzy,  and  turn  this  land  into  a  scene  of 
commotion,  until  the  clashing  passions  of  men 
boil  and  foam ;  just  as  though  a  business  of  the 
highest  moment,  and  which  should  call  into 
requisition  the  sublime  exercises  of  reason, 
could  be  better  accomplished  amid  painful  agi- 
tations, and  strifes  which  rend  holy  friendships, 
than  in  the  calm  and  lofty  exercise  of  my  intel- 
lectual faculties  ?  Ah !  but  they  say,  "  If  we 
could  only  see  and  know  them" — if  they  would 
only  thunder  before  they  strike.  But  to  see  nor 
cloud  nor  flash — to  hear  no  distant  mutterings, 
but  to  be  startled  and  prostrated,  by  the  flash 
and  the  bolt  at  the  same  instant,  and  without 
the  privilege  of  saying  softly — this  is  too  terrible 
to  bear !  But  this  is  entirely  as  you  take  it ;  it 
need  not  necessarily  be  to  you  the  desolating 


THE    AMERICAN   PARTY.  157 

artillery  of  heaven — the  thing  is  all  in  your  own 
excited  sensibilities — have  a  care  to  these,  and 
the  votes  of  the  "Know-Nothings,"  while  they 
fall  as  the  quietly-descending  dew,  may  be  con- 
templated with  the  same  feelings  of  satisfaction 
as  when  we  look  out  upon  the  tearful  landscape 
flashing  in  the  morning  sun,  as  though  showers 
of  diamonds  had  been  set  upon  every  trembling 
leaflet.  This  is  positively  a  beautiful  feature  of 
the  party ;  they  do  everything  so  systematically, 
and  withal  so  noiselessly,  that  no  job  of  work 
is  neglected,  no  dinner  spoiled — no  domestic 
arrangement  disordered — no  sour  tempers — no 
broken  noses,  and  no  disruptured  friendships — 
but  all  things  move  forward  with  their  accus- 
tomed regularity,  and  in  beautiful  harmony  with 
their  feelings.  Men  are  always  safe  in  copying 
from  the  operations  of  nature,  for  it  is  a  perfect 
organism ;  and  there  seems  to  be  a  correspond- 
ence between  the  plans  upon  which  nature  and 
this  association  operate.  The  most  amazing 
processes  are  continually  transpiring  within  the 
veiled  secrecies  of  this  stupendous  materialism, 
and,  when  properly  matured,  they  are  external- 
ized in  the  various  products  suited  to  the 
manifold  wants  of  all  creatures.  We  may  not 
complain  because  we  cannot  go  behind  the 
awful  shrines  of  nature ;  we  ought  to  be  con- 
tented with  the  good  wrought  for  us  in  her  vast 
laboratory ;  and  we  have  no  reason  to  demand 
14 


158  THE    PLAN    ADOPTED    BY 

access  to  the  privacy  of  an  association,  and  must 
be  satisfied  with,  whatever  of  public  good  it  may 
be  doing  for  the  country.  It  is  useless  to  at- 
tempt to  bring  them  out  into  angry  broils  and 
hot  contentions ;  and  it  will  be  an  improvement 
to  those  journals  which  are  now  denouncing 
them,  and  vastly  to  the  advantage  of  their 
readers,  if  they  lay  aside  their  bitterness,  and 
cultivate  a  better  temper,  for  that  would  greatly 
improve  their  manners.  They  may  rest  assured 
that  the  American  party  will  remain  true  to 
its  principles  and  its  plans  of  honest  and  quiet 
resistance  to  the  encroachments  of  foreigners 
upon  their  rights.  They  may  see  proper  to  lift 
the  veil  of  secrecy  even,  and  open  to  the  inspec- 
tion of  the  public  their  operations,  more  fully 
than  the  other  parties;  but,  whatever  restric- 
tions they  may  enforce  or  relinquish,  they  are 
true  patriots;  so  that,  even  those  who  may  be 
displaced  from  positions  they  love,  may  carry 
with  them  into  their  retiracy  the  assurance  that 
strong  arms,  wise  heads,  and  true  hearts  will 
guard  the  throne  of  freedom  and  minister  at  the 
altars  of  liberty. 

May  they  continue  to  carry  out  their  princi- 
ples in  the  same  quiet  way  in  which  they  have 
commenced,  and  may  they  never  be  allured  nor 
taunted  into  those  party  broils,  so  disgraceful  in 
the  past,  and  -which  induced  a  foreign  minister 
to  ask  of  an  American  traveller,  "Why  do  you 


THE    AMERICAN    PARTY.  159 

always  nominate  the  worst  men  for  your  Presi- 
dents, for  such  your  journals  unquestionably 
make  them?"  but  may  they  persevere,  like 
conscientious  and  patriotic  men,  to  toil  for  the 
good  of  their  country,  and  send  blessings  to  the 
habitations  and  hearts  of  those  who  now  revile 
them.  Friends  of  our  noble  institutions,  and 
the  ready  helpers  and  sympathisers  of  all  that 
are  oppressed,  they  will  ultimately  show  the 
fruits  of  their  triumphs  in  a  .well-regulated 
foreign  policy — having  none  abroad  as  Jefferson, 
and  Baily  in  a  recent  speech,  wished  it,  but 
natives,  and  American  interests  protected  at 
home — and  a  peaceful,  happy,  and  free  nation. 

Having  laid  it  down  as  a  fundamental  princi- 
ple to  interfere  with  none  in  their  civil  and 
religious  rights,  and  to  act  without  ostentation  or 
constraint,  they  cannot  be  otherwise  than  suc- 
cessful. For  even  now,  their  power  nerves  the 
heart  of  the  nation,  and  their  influence  though 
gentle  as  the  kissing  zephyr,  is  powerful  as  the 
gale  that  agitates  the  ocean  to  its  profoundest 
depths ;  for  it  animates  with  lofty  purposes  and 
guides  to  noble  ends,  thousands  of  thinking, 
immortal  minds. 


160     PROBABLE  INFLUENCE  ON 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  PROBABLE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  PARTY 
ON  THE  NEXT  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION. 

AMID  the  many  changes  which  we  constantly 
witness  in  this  mutable  world,  it  is  a  dictate  of 
reason  not  to  be  over-sanguine  in  our  expecta- 
tions of  success  in  anything.  The  members  of 
the  human  family  are  constitutionally  not  more 
frail  than  their  opinions  are  fluctuating.  To-day 
some  of  the  unstable  are  devoted  to  a  system 
which  to-morrow  they  utterly  repudiate.  It  is 
upon  this  feature  of  instability  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  man,  that  the  old  parties  rely  to  retrieve 
their  reverses,  and  reconstruct  their  organiza- 
tions. They  feign  to  believe,  whatever  their 
apprehensions  may  be,  that  the  "Know-Noth- 
ings" will,  like  a  wave  formed  by  a  sudden 
squall,  soon  spend  itself,  or  at  farthest  be  shivered 
to  fragments  against  the  rocks  which  rise  in  the 
way  of  its  progress.  It  is  upon  such  hopes  that 
they  now  nourish  their  failing  strength,  and 
fortify  their  fainting  hearts.  Are  their  predic- 
tions well  founded  ?  Will  the  new  party  disap- 
pear as  suddenly  as  it  sprang  into  existence  and 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION.     161 

power  ?  That  it  will  have  its  ordeals  to  pass  we 
grant,  but  that  its  dissolution  is  near  at  hand  we 
do  not  admit.  It  is  not  the  glaring  meteor  that 
has  shot  athwart  the  political  firmament  to 
startle  and  to  dazzle  for  a  moment,  and  then  be 
quenched  in  a  thick  gloom.  It  is  not  a  bubble 
waked  upon  the  surface  of  the  social  bosom,  just 
to  vanish  into  thin  air.  It  has  a  foundation  of 
living  principles  upon  which  to  repose,  and  is 
constructed  of  self-evident  truths,  and  will,  per- 
haps, exceed  in  durability  and  its  power  of  resist- 
ance, the  expectations  of  those  who  have  decreed 
its  destruction.  It  may  prove  more  of  a  "  Sebas- 
topol"  to  its  enemies  than  the  great  Russian 
fortress  does  to  the  allied  fleets. 

Were  it  simply  the  offspring  of  feeling  it 
might  be  an  easy  prey,  or  a  sentiment  of  such 
force  as  to  drive  men  for  a  season  from  the  old 
landmarks,  it  might  be  displaced  or  crushed, 
but  it  is  the  offspring  of  reason  and  as  deathless 
as  thought.  Whatever  amount  of  feeling  it 
may  evoke,  it  is  a  structure  of  principles  noui- 
ished  and  sustained  by  the  intelligence  of  the 
people.  At  one  time  it  was  thought  it  could  be 
frightened,  then  ridiculed  out  of  existence,  but 
when  it  withstood  these  assaults,  misrepresenta- 
tion and  gross  abuse  were  considered  effective 
weapons.  A  certain  Philadelphia  paper  was 
conspicuous  in  this  dishonorable  mode  of  war- 
fare, and  its  lugubrations  were  huckstered  and 
14* 


162     PEOBABLE  INFLUENCE  ON 

hawked  over  the  whole  country.  Forgetting 
what  was  due  to  others  and  the  proprieties  that 
attach  to  public  journalists,  it  dealt  in  the  most 
atrocious  misrepresentations.  Week  after  week 
that  paper  was  teeming  with  professed  reports 
of  transactions  in  councils  of  the  new  order, 
obtained  by  disreputable  means,  naming  indi- 
viduals and  ascribing  to  them  sentiments  which 
they  would  abhor,  and  representing  the  society 
as  on  the  point  of  dissolution.  But  instead  of 
inflicting  injury,  or  carrying  destruction  to  the 
object  of  its  hate,  that  paper  rather  increased 
their  numbers  by  disgusting  its  own  readers. 

In  my  estimate  of  the  probable  influence  of 
the  American  party  on  the  next  Presidential 
election,  I  shall  not  be  guided  by  party  journals, 
nor  rely  upon  any  thing  intangible,  but  deduce 
such  proofs  and  reach  such  conclusions  as  the 
aspect  of  things  and  the  state  of  political  parties 
may  warrant.  "We  might  argue  the  probable 
triumph  of  the  new  order  in  the  next  Presiden- 
tial campaign,  from  its  past  successes.  There 
have  been  few  instances  in  which  the  issues  were 
distinctly  brought  before  the  people,  where  the 
principles  of  the  American  part}7  did  not  triumph. 
But  we  may  base  our  calculations  upon  things 
more  permanent,  and  sustain  our  convictions 
that  it  will  control  the  next  election  by  proofs 
more  tangible  and  direct.  The  first  reason  for 
this  belief  I  gather  from  the  disorder  and  feeble- 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION.     163 

ness  of  the  old  parties.  It  is  with  great  political 
parties  as  it  is  with  armies.  When  its  chief 
officers  have  fallen  and  its  ranks  are  thrown  into 
confusion,  it  is  difficult  to  rally  a  severely  beaten 
host  and  to  restore  order.  And  if  even  they  can 
be  marshalled  for  battle  and  animated  to  a  second 
eifort,  they  contend  with  a  feeble  heart.  There 
is  always  a  great  disadvantage  when  no  inspira- 
tion of  recent  victories  sustains  the  combatants. 

Look  at  the  two  great  parties.  The  Whigs 
were  sorely  defeated  in  the  last  Presidential 
election,  and  have  not  since  been  able  to  effect 
a  thorough  organization  of  their  scattered  forces. 
The  Democrats  suffered  even  a  worse  defeat  in 
the  late  state  elections.  Though  they  enjoyed 
the  advantage  of  that  vast  influence  which  office- 
holders always  bring  into  the  field,  yet  with  all 
thia,  coupled  with  most  extraordinary  efforts,  they 
suffered  a  complete  rout.  The  old  Democratic 
State  of  Pennsylvania  polled  30,000  majority  for 
the  American  candidate.  In  Baltimore,  Md.,  the 
stronghold  of  foreigners,  and  with  the  official 
influence  of  the  party,  they  were  defeated  by  an 
overwhelming  majority.  In  Ohio,  Illinois,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  other  States,  like  defeats  were 
experienced. 

But  the  relations  of  the  parties  have  now  been 
reversed,  and  in  the  next  great  conflict  it  will 
be  comparatively  easy  for  the  new  party  to  elect 
all  their  men.  The  Democratic  party  has  greatly 


164     PROBABLE  INFLUENCE  ON 

diminished  even  since  the  last  .election.  Many 
have  forsaken  its  standard  and  have  come  over 
to  the  side  of  victory.  Others  are  becoming 
convinced  of  the  justice  of  the  cause  and  the 
importance  of  the  principles  advocated  on  the 
American  side  of  the  house.  If  at  first  they 
hesitated  about  uniting  with"  the  new  party,  it 
was  because  they  wanted  time  to  examine  its 
principles  and  scrutinize  the  merits  of  its  creed. 
But  now  that  they  have  had  time  for  calm  re- 
flection they  realize  the  importance  of  this 
movement,  and  while  large  numbers  may  never 
be  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  the  fraternity, 
they  may  still  feel  it  their  duty  to  support  those 
candidates  pledged  to  carry  out  the  principles 
of  the  new  order. 

The  extraordinary  exertions  of  those  opposed 
to  the  new  order  is  the  best  proof  of  the  growing 
strength  of  the  American  party.  Were  it  as 
insignificant  and  as  ephemeral  as  some  flatter 
themselves  it  is,  they  would  not  waste  so  much 
exertion  to  fight  the  man  of  straw.  They  would 
pity  its  feebleness  and  suffer  it  to  die  in  peace, 
but  conscious  as  our  politicians  are  that  the 
people  have  abundant  reason  to  be  dissatisfied 
with  their  improvident  administration  of  the 
government,  they  very  naturally  dread  an  organi- 
zation which  has  risen  up  to  vindicate  the  wrongs 
of  American  citizens.  Already  have  they  had 
a  foretaste  of  that  which  is  to  come,  and  the 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION.    165 

premonitions  of  the  terrible  overthrow  which 
awaits  them,  is  anything  but  soothing  to  their 
irritated  sensibilities. 

But  the  question  recurs  here,  would  such  a 
result  as  the  election  of  a  President  on  purely 
American  principles  be  desirable  ?  Are  Whigs 
and  Democrats  justified  in  breaking  loose  from 
party  restraints,  to  cast  their  suffrages  for  the 
candidate  who  may  be  offered  by  the  new  orga- 
nization ?  Under  ordinary  circumstances  we 
would  reply,  no!  but  in  view  of  the  present 
aspect  of  things,  and  the  great  issues  which  are 
to  be  decided,  we  cannot  hesitate  as  to  the  path 
of  duty.  We  behold  the  country  agitated  as  it 
never  has  been,  by  a  question  which  carries 
within  its  womb  results  either  the  most  glorious 
or  appalling  which  the  human  mind  can  con- 
template. A  question  which  has  been  violently 
thrust  upon  the  American  mind,  by  the  insolent 
conduct  of  foreigners  and  the  defiant  tone  of 
Jesuitical  Bishops  and  Archbishops  of  the 
Roman  Church  in  this  country.  Their  assumed 
superiority  over  all  others,  their  haughty  bear- 
ing, their  arrogance  and  intolerance,  became 
manifest,  not  only  in  the  language  and  writings 
of  their  dignitaries,  but  also  in  the  violence  of 
those  poor  victims  of  their  delusion  who  repeat- 
edly attacked  native-born  citizens  without  pro- 
vocation. The  question  is,  whether  they  shall 
be  permitted  to  pursue  this  course  of  action,  and 


166  PROBABLE    INFLUENCE    ON 

constitute  in  our  midst  a  band  of  Ishmaelites, 
and  not  amalgamate  or  coalesce  with  the  other 
elements  in  our  republic  ?  "Whether  we  shall 
fold  our  arms  and  look  on  quietly,  while  they 
are  rising  to  power  and  command  influence, 
until  they  shall  be  competent  to  control  our 
home  and  foreign  policy — to  dictate  our  laws, 
and  to  bring  about  those  scenes  of  oppression, 
persecution,  and  blood,  which  have  everywhere 
marked  the  progress  and  dominancy  of  the 
Roman  power ;  whether  we  shall  surrender  our 
liberties,  our  property,  our  daughters,  our  con- 
sciences, and  our  lives,  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
the  Papacy?  This  is  one  side  of  the  question 
which  should  be  carefully  pondered.  The  other 
is,  whether  our  free  institutions  shall  be  perpe- 
tuated— men  continue  to  worship  God  agreeably 
to  their  conscientious  predilections;  whether  we 
shall  preserve  inviolate  the  prerogative  of  Ame- 
rican citizens,  to  read  the  Bible  and  interpret  it 
for  themselves ;  whether  we  shall  have  free  sanc- 
tuaries, free  schools,  and  free  hearts;  whether  the 
government  shall  be  administered  by  the  native 
born  or  the  champions  of  the  Pope ;  and  whether 
our  civil  and  religious  institutions  shall  remain 
separate  and  distinct  as  now,  or  whether  there 
shall  be  a  union  of  Church  and  State,  con- 
trolled by  the  iron  despot  who  reigns  on  the 
seven-hilled  city?  All  these  considerations,  and 
many  others,  are  involved  in  the  question  at 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION.      167 

issue,  which  the  adherents  of  the  Papacy  and 
the  infidel  and  social  confederacies  of  our  land 
have  forced  upon  us  for  decision.  Can  an 
American  falter  a  moment,  hesitate  an  instant, 
when  such  commanding  issues  are  presented? 
Most  assuredly  not !  The  question  is  too  mo- 
mentous, the  interests  involved  too  tremendous, 
not  to  evoke  every  feeling  of  nationality,  and 
kindle  into  burning  every  spark  of  p.ure  patriot- 
ism. In  whatever  direction  our  party  predilec- 
tions may  tend,  we  cannot  forget,  in  seasons 
when  a  common  danger  threatens,  that  we  are 
Americans ! 

But  there  are  other  and  yet  weightier  reasons 
to  influence  the  judgment  of  men  in  this  junc- 
ture of  aifairs.  To  make  our  discussion  a  little 
more  formal  and  direct,  we  affirm  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  Americans  to  suspend  for  a  season  the 
operation  of  their  sympathies  for  former  creeds, 
and  sustain  the  nominee  of  the  new  party,  that 
the  national  honor  may  be  vindicated.  The 
honor  of  the  nation  is  a  personal  matter  with 
every  true  patriot,  and  cannot  be  insulted  or 
wounded  without  inflicting  a  like  injury  upon 
him.  He  will,  therefore,  as  promptly  redress 
the  wrongs  of  his  country  as  he  would  resent  a 
personal  injury  to  his  honor.  This  I  regard  as 
perfectly  just,  for  however  averse  to  sanction 
any  sort  of  violence,  and  much  as  it  is  the  duty 
of  all  good  citizens  to  exercise  forbearance  and 


168  PKOBABLE    INFLUENCE    ON 

love  towards  all  men,  there  cannot  be  the 
shadow  of  impropriety  in  giving  such  an  expres- 
sion at  the  polls  as  will  effectually  vindicate  the 
honor  of  our  nation.  Our  constitution  contem- 
plates a  fusion  of  the  various  members  of  this 
republic  into  one  common  brotherhood,  ani- 
mated by  one  spirit,  and  laboring  for  one  end. 
And  while  it  allows  the  amplest  freedom  to  all 
religious  creeds,  the  force  of  its  entire  spirit  is 
against  the  blending  of  the  religious  and  political 
sentiments  of  any  one  denomination  with  a  view 
to  exalt  itself  to  supreme  power.  It  is  at  war 
with  the  genius  of  our  institutions  for  a  denomi- 
nation to  remain  isolated  from  all  others  in  its 
political  action,  in  its  institutions,  and  works  of 
benevolence  and  education.  It  is  an  insult  to 
the  nation  to  contravene  its  wishes  and  inten- 
tions by  rearing  a  power  within  its  domain, 
hostile  to  the  liberty  of  the  State.  We  need  not 
stop  to  prove  that  the  Catholic  Church  is  the 
enemy  of  freedom  in  all  its  aspects.  Her  his- 
tory, her  doctrines,  her  spirit,  her  writers,  and 
her  priests,  have  filled  the  world  with  monu- 
ments proclaiming  the  truth  of  this  assertion. 
If  the  reader  will  turn  to  Balmes  on  Civilization, 
p.  76,  he  will  find  the  Catholic  idea  of  liberty, 
such  as  Bishop  Hughes  offered  in  his  reply  to 
General  Cass,  and  where  he  has  borrowed  the 
phrase  upon  which  he  plays  so  dexterously — "a 
confusion  of  ideas."  But  when  this  confusion 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION.     169 

of  ideas  is  cleared  up,  liberty  means  a  full  sur- 
render of  body,  soul,  and  all,  to  the  domination 
of  the  infallible  successor  of  Peter.  Who  does 
not  observe  the  extent  of  the  power  which  the 
Roman  Pontiff  holds  over  his  subjects.  At  his 
bidding,  they  cast  their  suffrages  en  masse  for 
the  men  who  will  do  most  for  the  interests  of 
Rome. 

While  all  the  efforts  of  Jesuitism  have  tended 
towards  the  aggrandizement  of  Rome  for  years, 
the  nation  has  sustained  injury  on  the  part  of 
those  public  men  who  encouraged  the  preten- 
sions of  these  emissaries  of  the  Pope  by  offering 
incense  at  his  shrine.  In  their  official  acts,  their 
speeches  and  writings,  they  exhibited  a  degree 
of  deference  to  the  papal  hierarchy  totally  in- 
compatible with  their  position  as  representatives, 
and  have  unmistakably  indicated  their  anxiety, 
nay  determination,  at  any  cost,  to  conciliate  the 
favor  of  these  ecclesiastics,  and  for  the  obvious 
reason  that  they  might  secure  the  influence  of 
these  among  their  spiritual  subjects.  The  sub- 
jects of  the  priest  have  less  freedom  of  will  than 
the  slaves  on  our  plantations,  and  are,  therefore, 
totally  incompetent  to  exercise  intelligently  the 
elective  franchise.  This  subserviency  of  some 
public  men  to  Romanism  we  are  forced  to 
regard  as  the  most  humiliating  feature  in  our 
latter  history.  This  has  gone  so  far  as  to  fill 
many  judicious  minds  with  the  most  alarming 
15 


170  PROBABLE    INFLUENCE    ON 

apprehensions,  and  if  suffered  to  continue  un- 
checked, it  may  acquire  such  energy  that  all 
attempted  remedies  will  prove  fruitless.  It  has 
frequently  been  the  sad  experience  of  individuals 
and  nations,  that  causes  the  most  despicable  in 
their  commencement  have  subsequently  coa- 
lesced with  other  influences,  and  acquired  an 
efficiency  for  evil  totally  beyond  their  control. 
There  is  a  time  in  the  history  of  every  vicious 
public  sentiment,  or  monstrous  conception,  when 
it  may  be  easily  destroyed.  This  monster,  born 
in  the  bosom  of  our  republic,  should  have  been 
strangled  in  its  birth,  but  though  it  has  grown 
to  be  powerful,  it  may  yet  be  crushed ;  but  if 
suffered  to  linger,  and  to  feed  upon  the  vitals  of 
the  nation,  it  will  ultimately,  like  a  malignant 
passion  in  the  human  heart,  destroy  everything 
exalted  and  good. 

Now  the  manner  in  which  it  is  proposed  to 
kill  off  this  evil  is  as  merciful  as  it  is  just.  If 
the  case  were  reversed,  so  that  we  Protestants 
were  in  a  Papal  country,  and  they  had  the  power 
as  we  have,  there  is  not  a  Catholic  kingdom 
where  the  good  of  Holy  Mother  would  not  require 
that  we  should  be  delivered  over  to  the  civil 
power,  and  commended  to  its  mercy,  which 
means  that  we  should  be  sent  to  the  stake,  the 
dungeon,  or  the  wheel.  Unchanging  and  un- 
changeable Popery  would  soon  rid  this  beautiful 
land  of  its  heretics  if  it  only  had  the  power.  Is 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION.     1Y1 

it  not  so,  tender  Shepherd  of  the  Valley  ?  What 
say  you,  Orestes  ?  Ah !  you  have  already  given 
your  views  on  the  duty  of  burning  heretics,  with- 
out any  equivocation.  But  the  American  party 
has  no  such  purposes,  no  feelings  of  vengeance 
to  gratify,  no  spirit  of  blood  to  satiate ;  but  it 
has  the  good  of  the  country  at  heart,  which  is  the 
good  of  all  parties  and  creeds,  and  feels  assured 
that  its  success  will  be  attended  with  high  and 
glorious  benefits  to  the  Catholic  laity.  The 
American  party  cherishes  the  kindest  feelings 
towards  all,  but  it  has  vowed  to  vindicate  the 
national  honor  from  the  imputations  of  servility 
to  the  Roman  power. 

A  nation,  like  a  virgin,  must  sacredly  guard 
her  honor ;  and  whenever  a  wily  foe  would  de- 
prive her  of  it,  she  must  shake  her  garments 
with  a  holy  horror,  and  rebuke  the  effrontery 
that  would  convert  her  into  a  courtezan  for  the 
Pope.  Every  American  heart  swells  with  indig- 
nation at  the  thought  of  transforming  our  insti- 
tutions into  instruments  of  oppression,  and  her 
extended  territories  into  a  wide  domain  of  cru- 
eHy.  These  considerations  will  be  pondered  by 
the  American  people — they  will  forget  all  diffe- 
rences in  political  sentiment,  and  will  strike 
with  one  heart  a  blow  to  vindicate  the  honor 
of  our  Republic ;  and  these  vampires,  who  have 
been  feeding  upon  the  life  of  this  nation  only  to 
destroy  her,  will  be  taught  a  lesson  that  they 


172     PROBABLE  INFLUENCE  ON 

will  never  forget.  Let  it  be  proclaimed  at  the 
polls  of  the  next  Presidential  election,  THAT 
AMERICANS  SHALL  RULE  AMERICA — that,  while  we 
offer  a  refuge  to  the  oppressed  of  all  lands,  we 
shall  expect  them  to  conform  to  the  letter  and 
the  spirit  of  our  laws,  and  to  be  content  with 
such  blessings  as  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness." 

It  is  vain  for  demagogues  to  contend  that 
foreigners  have  meditated  and  done  no  wrong 
to  the  country;  that  they  have  not  reflected 
upon  her  honor,  nor  scouted  the  instincts  and 
sentiments  of  the  nation  ;  and  that  it  is,  there- 
fore, persecution  and  proscription  that  the  Ame- 
rican party  aims  at.  Ignorance  or  presumption 
only  can  prompt  men  to  assert  such  unfounded 
charges.  Who  could  read  Bishop  Hughes  on 
religious  toleration  without  being  shocked  by 
the  dogmas  advanced  by  that  prelate  ?  Impu- 
dently charging  the  venerable  and  distinguished 
Cass  with  "a  confusion  of  ideas,"  when  he 
asserted  the  great  American  principle  of  reli- 
gious freedom.  The  sentiments  of  that  prelate 
most  violently  clash  with  all  the  impulses  of 
American  hearts,  and  are  in  direct  conflict  with 
the  teachings  of  the  charter  of  freedom,  and,  in 
the  hands  of  the  Bishop  and  those  whom  he 
serves,  mean  a  complete  abrogation  of  all  the 
laws  on  religious  toleration  out  of  the  Roman 
Church.  Such  also  was  the  tone  of  the  Cath- 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION.      173 

olic  press,  that  all  who  are  given  to  observation 
have  had  abundant  opportunity  of  witnessing 
that  the  Papacy  and  our  institutions  are  in 
direct  antagonism.  They  uttered  their  senti- 
ments rather  more  freely  than  might  now  appear 
prudent;  and  these  were  so  hostile  to  our  inte- 
rests, and  so  pregnant  with  awful  meaning,  as 
to  put  many  citizens  on  their  guard.  The 
boasted  changes  they  contemplated  were  pa- 
tented and  sent  through  the  land.  Self-preser- 
vation is  the  first  law  of  nature ;  and  it  is  under 
the  force  of  this  law  that  the  American  party 
acts;  and  in  obedience  to  the  dictate  of  this 
statute,  written  upon  every  loyal  heart  that  beats 
through  this  wide  Union,  thousands  will  be 
ranged  under  its  banner,  and  carry  it  trium- 
phantly forward  until  it  waves  over  the  capitol 
of  this  free  nation. 

Another  consideration  which  will  commend 
itself  to  true  patriots  is,  that  the  election  of 
President  on  the  issue  now  made  would  admi- 
nister a  gentle,  but  greatly-deserved,  rebuke  to 
meddlesome  foreigners.  They  have  carried  them- 
selves altogether  too  loftily,  and  have  essayed  to 
discourse  of  American  habits  and  institutions, 
in  a  manner  totally  unbecoming  in  men  who 
profess  warm  attachment  to  our  form  of  govern- 
ment. Having  scarcely  touched  upon  American 
soil,  they  set  themselves  up  for  our  teachers,  and 
freely  discuss  all  questions  pertaining  to  the 
15* 


174     PROBABLE  INFLUENCE  ON 

social  state,  while  they  understand  them  as 
little  as  would  an  imported  Hottentot.  It  is 
positively  insufferable  to  witness  such  arrogance 
and  presumption.  They  have  ahused  American 
generosity,  and  repaid  their  hospitality  by  gross 
insults  or  by  officious  meddlings  in  our  elections. 
Having  always  been  the  victims  of  oppression, 
they  understand  not  the  just  limits  of  liberty } 
and  run  to  that  other  extreme,  where  they  want 
nothing  but  the  power  to  become  the  worst  of 
oppressors.  "When  we  recount  the  officious  in- 
terference of  foreigners  in  our  political  aftairs — 
their  bearing  at  the  polls — their  dictation — their 
threats  if  their  demands  are  not  complied  with 
by  our  rulers,  we  are  really  amazed  at  the  mea- 
sure of  forbearance  exercised  towards  them.  It 
is  high  time  to  intimate  to  them,  in  a  manner 
not  to  be  misapprehended,  that  we  will  not  bare 
our  backs  to  the  lash  of  a  Bishop,  or  tamely 
cringe  to  his  bullying  and  blustering  subjects. 
Let  this  be  done  in  an  honorable  way — let  Ame- 
ricans give  a  united  expression  of  their  united 
sentiments,  and  elect  a  man  for  the  occupancy 
of  the  chair  of  state,  unpledged  to  bishop  and 
archbishops,  and  untrammelled  by  foreign  influ- 
ence. Let  his  election  be  decisive  and  trium- 
phant, that  every  State  of  this  Union  may  recur 
to  it  with  feelings  of  pride,  and  that  its  influence 
may  be  appreciated  by  those  who  have  raised 
this  issue  between  us. 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION.     175 

The  result  of  the  next  Presidential  election 
will  be  regarded  at  home  and  abroad  as  the  true 
exponent  of  the  American  and  foreign  elements 
in  our  country.  Foreigners  are,  in  this  issue, 
posted  against  Americans ;  it  is  not  the  strife  of 
parties,  but  of  nationalities.  Whether  it  is  good 
policy  to  bring  about  such  a  test,  is  not  now  a 
matter  for  our  consideration.  Could  it  be 
avoided,  it  would  unquestionably  have  obviated 
much  unpleasant  feeling ;  but  the  period  when 
it  might  have  been  prevented  has  passed.  The 
question  has  been  thrust  upon  Americans  with- 
out their  bidding,  and  in  the  face  of  repeated 
warning  and  solemn  protestations  on  the  part 
of  leading  Protestant  journals  and  statesmen  ; 
but  our  foreign  population,  especially  the  Cath- 
olics, have  been  instrumental  in  making  this 
issue,  and  with  them  rests  the  responsibility. 
The  preliminaries  of  the  great  struggle  are 
already  arranged — I  hear  the  sound  of  the  mar- 
shalling forces — the  influence  of  the  American 
party  on  the  next  Presidential  election  is  dis- 
cussed in  the  Grand  Council  in  Rome — it  forms 
a  topic  in  the  deliberations  of  the  cabinets  of 
Europe — it  is  debated  in  our  halls  of  legislation 
— in  our  palaces  and  cottages — it  forms  the  con- 
versation in  the  counting-house  and  the  shop — 
it  is  talked  over  by  our  wives,  mothers,  and 
children  at  the  fireside — while  the  prophetic 
words  of  our  Washington  are  whispered  in 


176     PROBABLE  INFLUENCE  ON 

every  breeze  by  our  guardian  angel  —  "Beware 
of  entangling  alliances  with  foreigners."  These 
warning  words  are  being  understood  in  their 
vast  significance,  and  Washington  will  a  second 
time  deliver  his  country  from  the  vassalage  of 
despotism.  Hundreds  of  thousands  are  waiting 
with  anxious  hearts  for  the  announcement  of 
him  who  is  to  bear  the  standard  of  the  new 
party,  and  unnumbered  multitudes  are  watching 
for  the  signal  to  march  to  the  polls  and  seal 
their  devotion  to  the  principle  "  that  Americans 
shall  rule  America."  All  over  the  land  there  is 
a  stirring  of  earnest  spirits — quiet  in  their  de- 
portment, but  fixed  in  their  purpose.  And 
among  those  who  sympathize  with  the  Ameri- 
can party,  I  am  proud  to  say  there  are  many  of 
foreign  birth,  but  of  far  different  spirit  from 
those  who  threaten  the  peace  and  stability  of 
our  Union. 

On  the  other  side,  no  efforts  are  spared  to  cir- 
cumvent the  plans  of  the  new  order  and  defeat 
their  intentions.  The  ablest  minds  are  toiling 
day  and  night  to  overcome  the  recent  disasters 
which  have  befallen  the  party  in  league  with 
Rome.  All  the  intellectual  force  which  can  be 
pressed  into  party  service  is  freely  offered,  and  all 
this  is  united  with  the  entire  force  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Can  we  look  out  upon  these  vast  pre- 
parations without  deep  emotions  ?  without  hav- 
ing our  sensibilities  stirred  to  the  profoundest 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION.     177 

depths  ?  IMPOSSIBLE  !  Ay,  there  is  a  grandeur 
gathering  about  these  rising  multitudes  to  a 
great  issue !  And  however  fervently  we  might 
wish  that  such  an  issue  had  never  been  raised 
in  this  brotherhood  of  freemen,  and  however 
much  we  deplore  the  fanatical  zeal  of  foreign 
Bishops  and  Archbishops  for  giving  rise  to  this 
question,  we  can  have  only  one  desire  as  to  its 
result.  But  this  is  no  time  for  fruitless  wishes — 
the  contest  is  before  us  and  we  must  meet  it.  It  is 
not  the  privilege  of  men  to  dodge  this  question, 
they  must  show -the  American  people  where  they 
stand.  They  will  be  made  to  declare  without 
equivocation,  whether  foreigners  shall,  or  shall 
not,  rule  the  land  of  Washington.  "Whether, 
in  addition  to  the  walled  convents  (which  no 
Protestant  denomination  would  be  allowed  to 
have  and  to  hold,)  where  the  victims  of  Jesuitical 
intrigue,  and  it  may  be  lust,  are  pining  away, 
while  there  is  no  law  by  which  an  aggrieved  Pre- 
testant  parent  can  recover  his  abducted  daughter, 
whether  in  addition  to  these  strongholds  of  the 
Papacy,  the  Inquisition  is  one  day  to  be  added, 
and  leave  us  to  the  tender  mercies  of  those  who 
have  crimsoned  almost  every  soil  with  innocent 
blood ! 

In  view,  therefore,  of  the  present  state  of 
feeling,  the  commanding  interests  which  are  at 
stake,  and  the  high  importance  associated  with 
the  results  of  the  next  Presidential  election,  I 


178     PROBABLE  INFLUENCE  ON 

cannot  be  mistaken  in  the  belief  that  our  citi- 
zens, cognizant  of  these  things,  will  reflect  as 
they  never  have  done,  before  they  -cast  their 
suffrages  at  the  ensuing  election.  And  seeing 
in  all  sections  of  the  land  the  presence  of  a  dan- 
gerous power — there  can  be  no  room  to  doubt 
the  success  of  the  American  nominee  for  the 
presidency.  May  it  be  a  Cass,  a  Fillmore,  a 
Houston,  or  Clayton,  but  may  Tie  be  an  American 
in  feeling,  in  thought,  and  in  action.  Such  a 
result  would  be  contemplated  with  unmingled 
satisfaction  bv^  all  true  patriots,  for  after  the 
decision  of  this  question,  all  may  resume  their 
places  on  former  platforms,  or  continue  the  or- 
ganization ;  but  whether  the  American  party 
shall  or  shall  not  ostensibly  exist  after  the  next 
Presidential  election,  its  principles  will  be  wide- 
spread, permanent,  and  immortal  as  our  glorious 
and  free  commonwealth. 

In  submitting  these  considerations  it  may  be 
proper  to  state  that  they  are  the  reflections  of 
one  who  has  no  ambitious  aspirings.  His  spirit 
is  not  chafed  by  disappointed  hopes,  or  foiled 
expectations.  He  has  never  sought  nor  enjoyed 
official  trusts,  nor  seeks  them  now.  But  standing 
by  the  shrines  of  freedom  he  has  uttered  his 
sentiments  on  a  subject  which  it  is  the  privilege 
of  all  to  discuss.  He  loves  his  country,  and  would 
curse  the  hand  and  paralyze  the  arm  that  would 
remove  a  single  stone  from  the  vast  temple  of 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION.     179 

freedom.  May  that  noble  structure  whose  foun- 
dations are  in  the  hearts  of  the  true  and  the 
brave,  remain  immutable,  amid  the  shocks  and 
convulsions  that  are  now  rocking  thrones  and 
kingdoms  into  a  heap  of  ruins  !  May  no  enemy 
at  home  or  from  afar,  ever  gain  power  to  undo 
the  work  of  our  Fathers;  and  may  their  sons 
never  want  hearts  to  love,  and  arms  to  defend 
the  altars  of  this  nation,  whose  glory  is  filling 
the  world,  that  our  institutions  may  be  as  per- 
petual and  as  glorious  as  the  sun  and  the  stars 
whose  light  falls  on  the  graves  of  our  venerated 
sires ! 


REPLY 

TO    THE    LETTER 

OP 

HON.   HENRY    A.    WISE, 


AGAINST    THE 


"KNOW-NOTHINGS." 


10  (181) 


REPLY 

TO    THE 

0f    j0n.     .     .  Mis*. 


THE  LETTER  OF  HON.  HENRY  A.  WISE,  THE  DEMO- 
CRATIC GUBERNATORIAL  CANDIDATE  OF  VIRGINIA, 
AGAINST  THE  KNOW-NOTHINGS. 

THIS  is  perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  docu- 
ment of  an  epistolatory  form,  that  has  ever  been 
issued  from  the  American  Press.  I  pronounce 
it  extraordinary,  whether  viewed  as  a  whole  or 
in  its  separate  propositions — hut  most  of  all  ex- 
traordinary, for  its  labored  proof  of  that  which 
nobody  denies ;  and  for  its  creation  of  a  hideous 
monster,  and  then  expending  the  whole  intellec- 
tual force  of  an  extraordinary  man  upon  its 
demolition. 

The  assumption  is  not  less  charitable  than  just 
to  Mr.  "Wise,  that  the  nondescript  with  which  he 
battles  so  terribly,  arose  from  some  of  the  Vir- 
ginia swamps,  for  the  Old  Dominion  is  not 
without  its  "  dismal  swamps."  That  the  creation 
which  looms  through  his  letter  should  have  the 
remotest  resemblance  to  the  Know-Nothings,  we 
cannot  for  a  moment  believe ;  neither  would  we 
cast  such  an  imputation  on  the  intelligence  of 

(183) 


184  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

its  author,  as  to  think,  that  he  had  the  faintest 
idea  of  drawing  a  portraiture  of  the  party  which 
he  denounces.  The  thing  is  sui  generis,  and  is 
evidently  the  offspring  of  a  cloudy  brain,  or  a 
disturbed  spirit. 

If  the  question  is  therefore  asked  why  a  reply 
is  offered  to  this  letter,  in  connection  with  the 
foregoing  pages,  I  would  state  for  the  informa- 
tion of  the  inquirer,  that  there  are  a  number  of 
urgent  reasons  why  it  should  be  answered. 

1.  First,  the  source  whence  it  emanates  is 
respectable.  It  is  not  on  all  occasions  that  an 
individual  may  rise  to  a  self-vindication.  The 
source  of  those  aspersions  intended  to  injure  or 
totally  destroy  his  reputation,  may  render  a  reply 
a  work  of  supererogation.  Not  only  motives 
of  self-respect  may  forbid  an  answer,  but  the 
censure  of  the  maligning  party  may  be  more 
honorable  than  its  adulations.  The  same  basis 
of  action  is  usually  adopted  by  honorable  asso- 
ciations. It  would  be  an  endless  and  profitless 
task  for  the  American  party,  to  defend  itself 
from  all  those  insane  attacks  upon  its  character 
with  which  partizan  journals  are  teeming.  Its 
contempt  could  not  even  stoop  so  low  as  to  repel 
the  many  foul  slanders,  so  abundantly  manufac- 
tured and  vended  by  the  evil-disposed.  Neither 
is  it  necessary,  for  their  origin  is  their  best 
refutation.  But  here  the  case  is  different  —  a 
lengthy  document  is  given  to  the  public,  abound- 


OF    HON.    H.    A.    WISE.  185 

ing  in  misconceptions,  and  misrepresentations ; 
doing  great  injustice  to  an  association  of  honor- 
able men — doing  violence  (it  may  be  unintenr 
tional)  to  truth,  and  all  canopied  by  the  powerful 
influence  of  a  great  name.  Mr.  "Wise  is  the 
Democratic  oracle  in  the  Old  Dominion,  and 
thousands  inquire  at  his  shrine  with  child-like 
simplicity,  and  receive  his  utterances  with  abso- 
lute confidence.  All  those  who  are  moulded  by 
his  influence  will  regard  this  document  against 
the  Know-Nothings  as  an  impartial  exposition 
of  their  creed,  and  endorse  it  from  beginning 
to  end.  It  is  therefore  eminently  proper,  to  sub- 
ject it  to  our  scrutiny  and  make  its  darkness 
light,  and  its  crooked  places  straight. 

2.  The  second  consideration  which  invites  a 
reply  is,  the  fact  that  it  constitutes  the  sum  total 
of  all  that  has  been  uttered  against  this  unof- 
fending class  of  men  by  the  opposition  press, 
by  stump  orators  in  Congress  and  out  of  Con- 
gress, and  all  over  the  land.  It  is,  in  the  dialect 
of  Gotham,  "  an  Omnium  gatherum"  of  all  they 
can  produce,  or,  as  the  lawyers  sometimes  say, 
the  arguments  urged  against  the  new  party,  are 
here  brought  within  the  compass  of  a  nut-shell, 
and  if  it  could  be  shaken,  it  would  still  rattle. 
It  is  doubtless  quite  agreeable  to  the  party 
assailed  to  have  all  the  ammunition  loaded  into 
one  and  the  same  gun,  for  if  it  can  withstand 
this  Paixhan,  the  ship  is  safe,  "  for  there  is  no 
16* 


186  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

more  of  the  same  sort."  I  trust  suitable  acknow- 
ledgments will  be  made  to  the  honorable  gen- 
tleman, for  the  wide  scope  which  he  has  given 
to  his  letter,  so  that  all  that  is  now  requisite  is 
to  expose  his  fallacies,  the  unsoundness  of  his 
arguments,  and  the  harmlessness  of  his  decla- 
mation, and  the  work  of  effectual  vindication  is 
at  once  accomplished. 

3.  The  third  reason  for  answering  this  formi- 
dable epistle  is,  that  it  has  been  extensively  circu- 
lated, and  as  it  abounds  in  misconceptions  and 
erroneous  statements,  no  doubt  based  on  wrong 
information,  doing  great  injustice  to  a  large  and 
respectable  portion  of  his  "fellow  citizens,"  it 
is  the  duty  of  some  one  to  correct  these,  for  I 
agree  perfectly  with  Mr.  Wise,  "  that  truth  should 
be  left  free  to  combat  error." 

4.  A  final  consideration  which  demands  a  re- 
sponse, is  found  in  the  fact  that,  Mr.  Wise  is 
now  the  nominee  for  the  high  office  of  governor 
in  his  state,  and  as  he  is  too  honorable  a  man 
to  desire  or  accept  a  political  victory  obtained 
upon   erroneous   issues,  or  by  misrepresenting 
those  who   oppose  him,  I  may  do  him  a  ser- 
vice by  removing  any  false  impressions  which 
may  have  been  made  upon  the  minds   of  the 
people.     In  view  of  these  several  considerations 
I  have  concluded  to  subject  this  elaborate  docu- 
ment to  a  brief,  but  impartial  examination. 

The  Honorable  gentleman  has,  in  this  epistle, 


OF    HON.    H.     A.    WISE.  187 

given  ample  scope  on  the  one  hand  to  his  fancy, 
and  to  his  declamatory  powers  on  the  other.  If  it 
is  a  reliable  index  of  his  intellectual  constitution, 
it  is  very  ohvious  that  the  peculiarities  indicated 
greatly  predominate  over  the  reasoning  faculties. 
To  such  an  extent  is  this  manifest,  that  it  is  with 
considerable  difficulty,  under  the  warfare  of 
words,  to  see  the  precise  bearing  of  his  argu- 
ment— it  is  like  searching  for  isolated  grains  of 
gold  in  a  mass  of  worthless  sand.  That  there 
may  be  no  room  to  complain  of  injustice,  and 
no  appearance  even  of  partiality,  I  will  fully 
state  the  propositions  upon  which  he  relies  for 
success  in  his  great  effort  to  demolish  the 
"  Know-Nothings." 

1.  "  There  is  no  necessity,  from  either  oppres- 
sion or  weakness  of  Protestants  or  Natives,  for 
such  an  organization." 

2.  "There  is  not  only  no  necessity  for  this 
secret  political  organization,  but  it  is  against  the 
spirit  of  our  laws  and  the  facts  of  our  history." 

3.  "  Know-Nothingism  is  against  the  spirit  of 
the  Reformation  and  Protestantism." 

4.  "  It  is  not  only  opposed  to  the  Reformation 
and  Protestantism,  but  to  the  faith,  hope,  and 
charity  of  the  Gospel." 

5.  "  It  is  against  the  peace  and  purity  of  the 
Protestant  churches,  and  in  aid  of  priestcraft, 
within  their  folds  to  secretly  organize  orders  for 
religious  combined  with  political  ends." 


188  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

6.  "It  is  against  free  civil  government,  by 
instituting  a  secret  oligarchy,  beyond  the  reach 
of  popular  scrutiny,  and  supported  by  blind  in- 
struments of  tyranny,  bound  by  test-oaths." 

7.  "It  is  opposed  to  our  progress  as  a  nation." 

8.  ""What  are  the  evils  complained  of  to  make 
a  pretext  for  these  innovations?" 

Here,  then,  are  the  propositions,  the  founda- 
tion upon  which  this  imposing  paper  edifice  is 
reared.  The  reader  perceives  that  he  has  given 
himself  great  amplitude  of  range,  and  doubtless 
with  a  view  of  comprehending  within  its  com- 
pass everything  that  could  be  urged  against  the 
new  order.  From  the  extent  of  the  field  over 
which  he  ranges,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  neces- 
sity to  limit  this  reply  to  the  most  prominent 
and  plausible  positions  of  this  document,  and  in 
as  condensed  a  form  as  possible. 

To  establish  his  first  proposition,  he  relies 
upon  the  statistics  of  our  native  and  foreign 
population,  and  from  these  infers  that  there  is 
no  existing  necessity  for  an  American  party. 
He  estimates  the  foreigners  in  our  country,  at 
this  time,  at  2,210,839.  But  this  is  at  variance 
with  the  census  of  1850,  considerably  less  than 
that  document  makes  it  four  years  ago,  and 
making  no  allowance  for  the  corresponding 
ratio  of  increase  since  then.  In  answering  this 
part  of  the  notable  letter,  I  offer  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  reader  the  statements  of  a 


OF    HON.    H.     A.     WISE.  189 

distinguished  gentleman,  who  enjoyed  peculiar 
facilities  for  making  an  accurate  report  on  the 
subject.  He  says : 

"  I  will  show  you  by  figures  the  progress  of 
immigration  since  1790 ;  it  is  as  follows : 

From  1790  to  1810  (20  years) 120,000 

From  1810  to  1820  (10  years) 114,000 

From  1820  to  1830        "  103,979 

From  1830  to  1840        "  762,369 

From  1840  to  1850        "  1,521,850 


Total  for  the  entire  60  years. . . 2,722,198 

"  The  following  table,  obtained  from  the  State 
Department,  conforms  nearly  enough  to  the  exact 
truth  for  the  purpose  of  this  illustration  : 

From  June  1,  1850,  to  Dec.  31,  1851,  the 

number  of  foreign  immigrants  arriving  was    558,000 

In  the  year  1852 375,000 

In  the  year  1853 368,000 

In  the  year  1854,  the  returns  for  the  first  six 
months  warrant  the  estimate  for  the  entire 
year 500,000 

The  aggregate  for  the  first  four  and  a  half 
years  of  this  decennial  term  is 1,801,000 

"  There  is  no  reason  for  believing  that  the  vast 
immigration  for  this  year  will  diminish ;  in  fact 
there  is  no  limit  to  its  rate  of  progress,  but  the 
means  of  conveyance.  Now,  then,  we  have, 
upon  this  basis,  an  aggregate  for  the  six  years 
and  a  half  intervening  between  this  period  and 


190  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

1860  of  3,250,000 ;  making  for  the  current  ten 
years  trie  astounding  aggregate  of  5,051,000. 

"The  correctness  of  this  calculation  is  self- 
apparent.  It  shows,  that  during  the  first  year 
of  this  decimal  period  there  will  be  thrown  upon 
the  shores  of  the  United  States  a  swarm,  from 
heterogeneous  sources,  of — 2,700,000  human 
beings ;  almost  exactly  equal  to  the  entire  immigra- 
tion of  the  last  sixty  years.  Estimating  the  rate 
of  immigration  upon  the  basis  of  the  returns 
for  the  twenty  years  succeeding  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution,  we  find  that,  for  the  forty-five 
years  preceding  the  declaration  of  indepen- 
dence, the  number  of  immigrants  that  arrived 
in  the  colonies  was  not  far  from  270,000 ;  little 
more  than  half  as  many  as  now  land  in  our  sea- 
ports in  six  months  I  We  were,  therefore,  at  that 
time  a  homogeneous  people.  All  of  our  three 
millions,  except  two  or  three  hundred  thousand, 
who  were  nearly  all  Tories,  were  born  upon  the 
soil,  were  Americans,  native  to  the  manor,  with 
souls  to  dare  and  hands  to  execute  the  mighty 
plans  necessary  to  a  nation's  redemption." 

A  gifted  and  cool  editor  of  a  prominent  public 
journal  remarks  upon  the  above:  "Here  is  the 
whole  case  presented ;  the  argument  is  begun 
and  ended.  The  admission  of  foreigners  to  un- 
limited political  privileges  is  not  consistent  with 
the  interests  of  society,  with  good  government, 
or  the  public  peace.  And  the  facts  sufliciently 


OP   HON.    H.    A.    WISE.  191 

prove  why  that  policy  in  respect  to  foreigners, 
which  was  perhaps  not  unadvisable  up  to  a 
recent  period,  has  become  intolerable,  and  de- 
mands a  complete  reformation.  We  do  not  mean 
to  admit  that  the  necessity  for  such  a  change 
of  policy  (for  his  journal  is  not  of  the  party)  has 
now  for  the  first  time  arisen ;  but  the  evils  for 
which  a  remedy  is  demanded  have  been  ren- 
dered too  flagrant  for  endurance  by  the  events 
of  the  last  fourteen  years,  and  particularly  by 
those  of  the  last  eight." 

As  the  whole  argument  on  the  first  proposi- 
tion discussed  by  Mr.  Wise  is  founded  upon  the 
relative  numerical  strength  of  the  native  and 
foreign  element  in  our  political  system,  and  as 
we  have  seen  his  premises  swept  away  by  the 
above  statements,  "leaving  not  a  wreck  be- 
hind," all  his  words  and  logic  are  wasted.  His 
argument  would  have  answered  well  enough 
sixty  years  ago,  but  for  1854  it  is  sadly  defi- 
cient; for  it  can  be  readily  seen  by  the  ratio 
of  increase  during  the  past  existence  of  our 
nation,  that,  upon  the  same  basis  of  calcu- 
lation foreigners,  at  no  distant  day,  might  out- 
number the  native  born.  But  it  is  not  even  the 
numerical  strength  of  aliens  that  is  most  to  be 
deprecated,  but  rather  the  kind  of  material 
which  composes  that  body.  A  skilful  Jesuit  is 
more  to  be  dreaded  than  five  thousand  ordinary 
citizens,  so  far  as  the  power  to  do  evil  is  con- 


192  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

cerned.  We  have  seen  that  his  creed  allows 
him  a  range  of  latitude,  in  moral  and  political 
action,  which  is  utterly  abhorred  by  men  of 
integrity.  With  him  "  the  end  justifies  the 
means;"  and,  with  this  license,  he  is  always 
and  everywhere  a  dangerous  citizen;  for<there 
is  not  an  enormity  in  the  whole  catalogue  of 
intrigue  and  crime  which  he  may  not  commit 
with  impunity. 

The  honorable  gentleman  next  proceeds  under 
this  head  to  compare  the  Catholics  with  the  Pro- 
testants of  this  country,  and  infers  from  the  con- 
trast that  there  can  be  no  danger  from  this 
source.  Here  we  perfectly  agree,  provided  Cath- 
olics adopt  the  same  policy  as  Protestants.  Did 
their  ecclesiastics  encourage  a  blending  and  co- 
operation on  the  part  of  their  subjects  with  other 
citizens,  the  contest  now  going  on  would  never 
have  originated ;  but  while  they  act  in  a  body, 
and  all  their  exertions  in  the  Church  and  in  the 
State  have  for  their  object  the  destruction  of 
Protestantism,  there  can  be  no  good  reason 
alleged  why  Protestants  should  not  assume  a 
defensive  attitude.*  But  it  is  not  only  this  com- 

*  The  following  is  the  oath  taken  by  the  Jesuits  on 
joining  the  order  : — 

I,  A.  B.,  now  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  the 
blessed  Virgin  Mary,  the  blessed  Michael  the  Archangel, 
the  blessed  St.  John  the  Baptist,  the  holy  apostles  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  all  the  Saints  and  sacred  host 
of  heaven,  and  to  you  my  ghostly  father,  do  declare  from 


OF    HON.   H.   A.   WISE.  193 

bination  among  themselves,  but  the  fact  that 
they  lend  themselves  for  a  consideration  to  one 

my  heart,  without  mental  reservation,  that  his  Holiness, 

Pope ,  is  Christ's  Vicar-General,  and  is  the  true  and 

only  Head  of  the  Catholic  or  universal  church  through- 
out the  earth :  and  that  by  the  virtue  of  the  keys  of 
binding  and  loosing,  given  to  his  Holiness  by  my  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  he  hath  power  to  depose  heretical  kings, 
princes,  states,  commonwealths,  and  governments,  all 
being  illegal  without  his  sacred  confirmation,  and  that 
they  may  safely  be  destroyed :  therefore,  to  the  utmost 
of  my  power,  I  shall  and  will  defend  this  doctrine,  and 
his  Holiness'  rights  and  customs,  against  all  usurpers  of 
the  heretical  (or  Protestant)  authority  whatsoever ;  espe- 
cially against  the  now  pretended  authority  and  Church 
of  England,  and  all  adherents,  in  regard  that  they  and 
she  be  usurpal  and  heretical,  opposing  the  sacred  mother 
Church  of  Rome.  I  do  renounce  and  disown  any  alle- 
giance as  due  to  any  heretical  king,  prince,  or  State, 
named  Protestants,  or  obedience  to  any  of  their  inferior 
magistrates  or  officers.  I  do  further  declare  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,  the  Calvinists, 
Huguenots,  and  of  others  of  the  name  Protestants,  to  be 
damnable,  and  they  themselves  are  damned,  and  to  be 
damned,  that  will  not  forsake  the  same.  I  do  further 
declare  that  I  will  help,  assist,  and  advise  all  or  any  of 
his  Holiness'  agents  in  any  place  wherever  I  shall  be,  in 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  or  in  any  other  territory 
or  kingdom  I  shall  come  to,  and  do  my  utmost  to  extir- 
pate the  heretical  Protestants'  doctrines  and  to  destroy 
all  their  pretended  powers,  regal  or  otherwise. 
17 


194  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

or  the  other  of  the  great  parties,  to  be  used  as 
instruments  to  carry  an  election,  that  justly  in- 
spires apprehension  concerning  their  growing 
influence.  They  are  no  longer  the  three  millions 
of  Catholics  which  we  have  to  fear,  but  all  the 
forces  of  the  Democratic  or 'Whig  party  annexed 
to  Rome,  that  are  brought  against  Protestantism. 
Those  who  co-operate  with  them  are  virtually  a 
part  of  them,  so  far  as  the  result  of  their  exer- 
tions is  concerned.  Where  would  be  the  differ- 
ence,  Mr.  Wise  ?  If  there  were  only  three  hun- 
dred of  Jesuits  in  this  Union,  and  your  party  so 
powerful  in  Virginia,  and  recently  so  triumphant 
all  over  the  land,  carries  out  their  wishes — legis- 
lates for  their  benefit  —  grants  them  their  de- 
mands, and  your  whole  political  machinery  is 
worked  by  their  chosen  spirits  ?  In  your  esti- 
mate of  their  numerical  strength,  you  seemed  to 
overlook  this  important  feature  in  the  aspect  of 
the  question  at  issue.  But  enough  upon  this 
point — your  errors  of  calculation,  and  your  mis. 
conception  of  the  true  condition  of  things,  are 
too  glaring  to  require  further  comment. 

2.  The  next  point  raised  in  this  marvellous 
production  is,  that  the  American  party  contra- 
venes the  spirit  of  our  laws.  Here,  as  in  the 
former  part,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  follow  his 
ideas  through  a  wilderness  of  words ;  a  wilder- 
ness where  often  no  sunlight  visits  those  who 
follow  him.  He  commences  with  those  inci- 
dents in  our  history  familiar  to  every  schoolboy 


OF    HON.    H.    A.    WISE.  195 

— how  we  all  had,  some  time  or  other,  either  in 
our  parents,  grand-parents,  or  great-grand- 
parents, a  foreign  ancestry  —  how  we  are  all  re- 
lated to  Adam  —  and  builds  an  argument  upon 
the  relations  which  some  of  our  forefathers  sus- 
tained to  a  foreign  country,  designed  to  show 
that  we  should  treat  those  kindly  who  now  come 
to  our  shores.  But  where  is  the  necessity  of 
parading  these  things  hefore  us  —  do  not  the 
instincts  of  humanity,  and  the  utterances  of 
Christianity,  enforce  these  lessons  far  more  effi- 
ciently than  Mr.  Wise  ?  And  is  there  an  orga- 
nization that  strives  to  act  with  greater  con- 
formity to  these  Divine  teachings  than  this  new 
party?  Do  they  not  resist  all  show  of  intole- 
rance ?  Does  he  not  know  that  a  fundamental 
principle  of  the  party  is — No  UNION  OF  CHURCH 
AND  STATE  ?  Does  he  not  know  that  they  con- 
tend for  the  largest  liberty  for  all,  consistent 
with  the  safety  of  the  republic?  —  that  they 
welcome  the  oppressed  from  all  climes  ?  —  that 
they  are  pledged  always  to  keep  it  a  free  asylum 
for  all  classes  and  creeds?  If  he  did  not  know 
their  principles,  why  write  about  them? — why 
denounce  what  he  does  not  understand  ?  What, 
in  the  name  of  Heaven,  has  the  trial  by  jury  to 
do  with  such  a  discussion  ?  Never  has  a  man 
so  signally  failed  in  making  out  a  case  —  never 
did  effort  so  recoil  upon  its  author — as  this  letter 
which  attempts  to  traduce  the  character  of  an 
association  of  which  he  is  totally  ignorant.  The 


196  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

great  body  of  them  are  men  above  suspicion, 
and  upon  whose  crest  ten  thousand  knights,  such 
as  the  Virginian,  might  shiver  their  weapons 
without  inflicting  a  scar. 

And  now  we  come  to  his  analysis  of  the 
Declaration  of  Rights,  where  he  attempts  to 
prove  that  the  creed  of  the  American  party  is  in 
direct  conflict  with  it.  There  is  not  a  particular 
enumerated  at  this  stage  of  his  discussion  which 
may  not  be  turned  against  himself  with  the 
entire  force  of  all  his  reasoning.  As  an  illustra- 
tion, I  need  but  offer  one  of  the  several  points 
raised.  He  proceeds:  "Is  not  this  organiza- 
tion an  Imperium  in  Imperio  against  the"  14th 
section  of  this  Declaration,  which  says :  '  That 
the  people  have  a  right  to  uniform  government, 
and,  therefore,  that  no  government  separated 
from,  or  independent  of,  the  government  of  Vir- 
ginia, ought  to  be  erected  or  established  within 
the  limits  thereof.'  It  is  not  a  government," 
he  continues  ;  "  but  will  it  not,  does  it  not,  poli- 
tically govern  the  portion  of  the  people  belonging 
to  it  differently  from  the  portion  of  the  people  not 
belonging  to  it  are  governed  by  the  laws  of  Vir- 
ginia." Truly,  a  sage  conclusion,  and  a  very 
naughty  feature  in  the  new  organization,  that  it- 
presumes  to  govern  and  direct  its  members,  instead 
of  committing  this  business  to  Mr.  "Wise.  But  it 
is  somewhat  singular  that  this  very  feature,  so 
odious  in  his  estimation,  has  not  long  since 
driven  him  from  the  Democratic  ranks,  for  do 


OF    HON.    H.    A.    WISE.  197 

they  not  acknowledge  themselves  the  authors  of 
the  dogma,  "  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils ;" 
and  in  its  execution,  do  they  not  govern  "  that 
portion  of  the  people  belonging  to  them,  differ- 
ently from  those  who  do  not  belong  to  them  ?" 
It  is  amazing  that  with  his  professed  abhorrence 
of  the  principle  invariably  carried  out,  and  which 
he  must  respect  if  elected,  he  should  accept  the 
nomination.  And  this  is  a  common  feature  in 
all  parties.  Query,  was  it  this  feature  in  the 
Whig  party  which  caused  him  to  leave  that 
standard  some  years  ago  ? 

But  it  is  so  far  from  abetting,  that  it  is  against 
this  "Imperium  in  Imperio,"  that  the  whole 
force  and  significance  of  the  American  party 
wars.  Let  us  see  where  this  charge  may  be 
legitimately  laid  ?  Is  it  not  at  the  door  of  the 
Romish  Church,  and  at  the  feet  of  those  who 
are  aiding  her  with  the  force  of  their  intellects 
to  accomplish  her  purpose  ?  Has  not  that  orga- 
nization been  toiling  with  sleepless  energy  to  do 
this  very  thing  ?  And  has  not  such  a  measure 
of  success  attended  their  efforts,  that  that  spiri- 
tual despotism  is  rising  as  a  powerful  Imperium 
in  Imperio,  within  the  limits  of  our  republic? 
I  have  elsewhere  shown  that  they  are  a  combi- 
nation sworn  to  act  in  concert,  and  that  too  for 
the  upbuilding  of  Eomanism  until  it  rises  above 
all  opposition,  and  its  shadow  darkens  this 
whole  continent.  Is  not  their  whole  machinery 
17* 


198  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

evidence  of  this  truth?  Behold  the  influence 
which  they  already  command !  Does  not  the 
silence  of  legislators,  when  the  grossest  outrages 
are  committed  by  Catholics,  afford  the  most 
tangible  proof  of  the  influence  which  this  Impe- 
rium  has  acquired  over  the  minds  of  public 
men?  Does  not  this  Roman  Imperium  assert 
prerogatives  at  variance  with  "  the  spirit  of  our 
laws  ?"  Have  they  not  established  their  monas- 
teries and  convents  in  the  very  shadow  of  the 
Throne  of  Freedom  ?  And  for  what  purposes 
are  these  prisons  constructed  ?  Do  they  not 
there  hold,  against  their  will,  helpless  females  ! 
often  enticed  or  abducted  from  Protestant  fami- 
lies, while  no  legislator  has  yet  dared  to  propose 
the  enactment  of  a  law  to  authorize  a  parent  to 
recover  the  child  of  his  bosom  ?  May  they  not, 
do  they  not,  defy  you ;  and  is  this  no  infringe- 
ment on  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  Ameri- 
cans? Has  it  come  to  this,  that  American 
parents  must  furnish  virgin  daughters  to  glut, 
for  all  they  know,  the  lust  of  foreign  priests  ? 
Has  this  apologist  for  foreigners  no  sympathy 
for  the  daughters  of  American  mothers  ?  !No 
word  of  denunciation,  though  a  daughter  from 
his  own  State  was  detained  against  her  will  in 
St.  Joseph's,  and  escaped,  at  the  peril  of  her  life 
at  night,  from  that  dungeon  of  corruption? 
No  invectives,  because  these  strong-holds  fill 
the  land,  and  all  their  victims  and  doings  are 
covered  with  that  impenetrable  veil  of  secrecy, 


OP    HON.    II .     A.     WISE.  199 

which  massive  walls,  and  bars,  and  bolts  con- 
stitute ? 

Is  it  not  a  fact  incontrovertibly  established  by 
history,  that  monasteries  and  convents  are  the 
pillars  and  bulwarks  of  the  Romish  imperium 
in  all  the  countries  that  have  been  cursed  by  its 
presence  ?  And  lo  !  here  there  is  not  simply  a 
government  rising  up  within  our  government, 
but  it  has  already  established  its  strong-holds, 
and  the  eye  of  the  law  may  not  look  upon  the 
veiled  abominations  that  transpire  within  these 
fortresses  of  the  Papacy !  Recently  a  Miss 
Bunkley,  from  Norfolk  and  of  Protestant  pa- 
rents, yielding  to  the  arts  of  fascination  with 
which  a  serpent  knows  so  well  how  to  decorate 
the  entrance  of  its  den,  was  induced  to  enter  a 
convent  near  where  I  write ;  but  such  was  the 
revelation  of  the  interior  life  of  that  establish- 
ment, as  to  shock  her  moral  sensibilities,  so  that 
at  all  hazards  she  made  her  escape.  The  Lady 
Superior's  letter  to  the  public  is  full  of  blandish- 
ments, while  she  asserts  that  Miss  B.  could  have 
withdrawn  at  any  time,  and  that  there  was  no 
occasion  for  escaping  at  night  from  a  second 
story  window.  Such  declarations,  with  all  the 
aid  of  that  aspect  of  injured  piety  which  she  so 
adroitly  throws  around  them,  contradict  them- 
selves. Would  a  girl  of  seventeen,  •  timid  and 
modest,  risk  her  life  by  a  descent  from  a  second 
story  window,  scaling  the  wall  of  the  enclosure, 


200  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

and  running,  for  her  life  and  honor,  to  a  town 
seven  or  eight  miles  distant,  and  that  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  when  she  could  have 
come  away  at  her  pleasure  ?  The  very  proposi- 
tion is  an  insult  to  the  good  sense  of  our  people. 

It  is  against  this  dangerous  power,  against 
this  imperium  in  imperio,  that  the  American 
party  has  assumed  an  attitude,  not  offensive, 
but  defensive.  They  will  not  countenance  any 
indignity  offered  to  Roman  Catholics,  nor  injure 
a  hair  upon  their  heads — they  will  not  abduct 
Catholic  children,  but  they  will  defend  them- 
selves against  the  cunning  of  this  terrible  power 
— they  will  guard  their  homes  and  their  chil- 
dren from  the  machinations  of  these  tyrants 
— they  will  ask  for  such  legislation  that  none 
may  be  imprisoned  in  a  convent  against  their 
will,  and  that  parents  may  have  the  right  to 
explore  those  dens  into  which  their  offspring 
have  been  enticed. 

But  not  to  leave  my  reader  simply  with  my 
own  assertions  respecting  the  pretensions  of  the 
Romish  Church,  as  Mr.  Wise  did,  when  dealing 
out  his  invectives  against  the  Know-Nothings, 
I  will  here  present  the  views  of  the  most  emi- 
nent ecclesiastics  of  that  Church,  in  relation  to 
what  they  conceive  to  be  the  legitimate  preroga- 
tives of  the  Pope.  Her  own  doctors  ought  to 
understand  her  doctrines.  Hear,  then,  the  dis- 
tinguished Bellarmine,  the  prince  of  their  theo- 


OF  HON.  n.  A.  WISE.  201 

logians,  and  the  most  eminent  controversialist 
of  his  age.  In  his  work,  "De  Pontiff,"  vol.  i., 
he  says :  "  The  first  opinion  is,  that  the  Pope, 
by  Divine  right,  hath  supreme  power  over  the 
WHOLE  WORLD  !  both  in  ecclesiastical  and  civil 
affairs.  This  is  the  opinion  of  Augustinus  Tri- 
umphus,  -^Evarus,  Pelagius,  Panomitamus,  Hos- 
tiensis,  Sylvester,  and  many  others."  Thomas 
Aquinas,  another  celebrated  author  of  that 
Church,  says:  "The  Pope,  by  Divine  right,  has 
spiritual  and  temporal  power,  as  SUPREME  KING 
OF  THE  WORLD  ;  so  that  he  can  impose  taxes  on 
all  Christians,  and  destroy  towns  and  castles  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Church."  A  multitude 
of  other  arrogant  pretensions  might  be  quoted; 
but  these  may  suffice.  If  the  Roman  Imperium 
which  has  been  rising  within  the  circle  of  our 
glorious  Union  is  not  strong  enough  to  give  a 
practical  illustration  of  these  arrogant  preroga- 
tives, it  finds  in  Mr.  "Wise  an  able  apologist  of 
her  pretensions,  and  an  efficient  co-worker  to 
rear  to  completion  the  superstructure  of  that 
despotic  Imperium,  which  has  laid  its  founda- 
tions broad  and  deep  within  the  American 
Imperio,  reared  by  the  sweat  and  cemented  by 
the  blood  of  our  venerated  fathers. 

The  next  point  of  his  argument  is  against  the 
supposed  opposition  of  the  "Know-Nothings" 
to  the  naturalization  of  foreigners.  "  So  far  as 
it  opposes  our  naturalization  laws,  it  is  not  only 


202  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

against  state  policy,  but  against  Americanism 
itself.  In  this  it  is  especially  anti-American. 
One  of  the  best  fruits  of  the  Revolution  was  to 
establish,  for  the  first  time  in  the  world,  the 
human  right  of  expatriation."  In  addition  .to 
the  statements  made  in  a  previous  chapter  on 
the  subject  of  naturalization,  it  may  be  neces- 
sary here  to  correct  the  misapprehensions  of  our 
honorable  friend.  He  has  expended  much  of 
his  logic  on  this  point,  which  might  have  been 
more  judiciously  used  in  doing  justice  to  the 
American  party.  But  as  he  seems  to  be  a  tho- 
rough Know-Nothing,  so,  far  as  a  knowledge  of 
the  principles  of  that  order  are  concerned,  this 
perversion  of  the  truth  is  the  more  pardon- 
able. Who  has  ever  heard,  but  from  their  ene- 
mies, that  they  demand  the  abrogation  of  the 
naturalization  laws  ?  What  proof  has  Mr.  Wise 
that  they  are  prescriptive  in  sentiment,  or  the 
enemies  of  expatriation  ?  Why  then  so  posi- 
tively affirm  that  they  are  about  to  revive  the 
"feudal  dogma,  once  a  citizen,  always  a  citi- 
zen ?"  Should  not  shame  mantle  the  counte- 
nance of  those  who  so  grossly  misrepresent 
their  fellow-citizens?  What  is  the  American 
party  contending  for,  in  relation  to  this  subject? 
An  abrogation  of  all  laws  relating  to  this 
matter — a  total  exclusion  of  foreigners  —  a 
withholding  of  the  right  of  citizenship  altoge- 
ther—  and  the  closing  of  every  door  of  this 
asylum  against  them  ?  Such  would  be  the  le- 


OF    HON.    H.    A.    WISE.  203 

gitimate  inference  of  the  reader  of  this  singular 
letter,  if  not  otherwise  informed.  And  these 
monstrous  sentiments,  created  by  Mr.  "Wise,  and 
draped  in  all  the  dark  colorings  with  which  a 
disordered  fancy  could  invest  them,  are  ascribed 
to  the  new  order !  Is  it  not  amazing  that  men 
of  high  intellectual  and  social  position  should, 
even  under  the  momentary  excitement  of  de- 
bate, so  far  forget  the  proprieties  that  are  ob- 
served between  respectable  combatants,  as  to 
give  utterance  to  the  foulest  calumnies  that  a 
delirious  and  clouded  brain  can  invent!  It 
may  be  alleged,  as  an  extenuation  of  his  guilt, 
that  the  cry  of  "proscription,"  " exclusiveuess," 
and  "intolerance,"  which  floated  upon  every 
breeze,  so  misled  him  as  even  to  fill  his  mind 
with  all  those  hobgoblin  ideas  of  the  new  order 
to  which  he  has  given  utterance.  But  if  in  the 
judgment  of  some  it  may  mitigate  the  wrong 
committed,  it  cannot  atone  for  the  unpardon- 
able neglect  of  not  seeking  information  in  the 
right  quarter,  before  he  attempted  to  instruct 
his  constituents  in  the  mysteries  of  the  "  Know- 
Nothings."  ~~»"~ 

The  American  party  asks  that  the  period  of 
naturalization  may  be  extended,  not  prohibited ! 
They  maintain  that  it  is  dangerous  to  transplant 
a  man  without  a  suitable  probation  from  a  des- 
potic or  monarchical  form  of  government,  into 
the  immunities  of  full  American  citizenship. 


204  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

They  are  willing'  to  accord  to  all  such  privileges 
as  they  may  have  capacity  to  enjoy — but  opposed 
to  the  policy  that  would  thrust  responsibilities 
upon  raw  foreigners,  which  they  neither  compre- 
hend nor  know  how  to  discharge.  Our  laws  forbid 
the  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise  to  all  young 
men  under  the  age  of  21  years — is  that  proscrip- 
tion ?  Looking  to  their  qualifications,  it  would 
be  a  far  worse  proscription,  for  our  boys  of  12 
and  15  are  much  better  informed  in  the  duties 
and  responsibilities  of  citizenship,  than  most 
foreigners  of  as  many  years'  residence.  Yet  this 
party  does  not  fix  any  number  of  years,  but 
demands  such  a  modification  of  the  Naturaliza- 
tion laws  as  the  wisdom  of  Congress  may  deem 
expedient,  so  that  none  may  be  invested  with  all 
the  prerogatives  of  citizenship,  but  such  as  are 
suitably  prepared  sacredly  to  guard  and  wisely 
to  enjoy  this  high  trust.  What  then  becomes 
of  the  gentleman's  beautiful  exclamations  !  what 
of  his  touching  pathos  and  wasted  patriotism  ? 
It  may  be  matter  of  regret  that  these  precious 
things  are  so  injudiciously  thrown  away ;  for  they 
might  have  served  some  great  occasion  ;  but  they 
are  gone,  and  none  can  rescue  them  from  their 
inglorious  doom  !  An  extension  of  a  privilege 
is  not  understood  in  our  latitude  as  annulling  it 
— nor  is  a  modification  of  a  law  equivalent  to 
its  repeal. 

It  may  be  that  since  the  appearance  of  this 


OF    HON.    H.    A.    WISE.  205 

letter,  which  Balmes  would  call  "  a  confusion  of 
ideas,"  that  words  have  acquired  a  confused 
meaning,  where  it  has  circulated.  For  the  benefit 
of  Mr.  Wise  and  his  friends,  with  whom  the 
cry  of  proscription  has  become  as  familiar  as  a 
child  to  its  mother,  I  will  submit  a  brief  quota- 
tion from  an  editorial  of  the  New  York  Courier. 
The  only  positive  provision  which  the  Constitu- 
tion contains  with  regard  to  foreigners,  is  a  pro- 
scriptive  one.  "We  must  be  pardoned  for  re- 
calling the  very  language  of  the  Constitution, 
for  this  progressive  generation  is  fast  losing 
sight  of  even  the  plainest  features  of  that  docu- 
ment." 

Section  5,  Article  IE.,  of  the  Constitution 
says :  "  No  person,  except  a  native  lorn  citizen, 
or  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of 
the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  eligi- 
ble to  the  office  of  President." 

That  is  proscription. 

Section  3,  Article  All.,  says:  "No  person 
constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent, shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  Vice 
President  of  these  United  States." 

That  is  proscription. 

Section  3,  Article  I.,  says :  "  No  person  shall 
be  a  Senator,  who  shall  not  have  attained  the 
age  of  thirty  years,  and  been  nine  years  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States." 

That  is  proscription. 
18 


206 

Section  2,  Article  I.,  says :  "  No  person  shall 
be  a  Representative,  who  shall  not  have  attained 
the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven 
years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States." 

That  is  proscription. 

These  are  disabilities  imposed  upon  foreigners 
after  they  have  been  made  citizens.  But  more 
than  this,  the  Constitution  leaves  it  discretionary 
whether  to  make  them  citizens  at  all.  It  simply 
confers  the  power,  simply  permits.  Section  8, 
Article  L,  says :  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
establish  a  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  &c." 

Nothing  whatever  requires  Congress  to  exer- 
cise this  power,  or  restricts  its  range  in  either 
direction  when  it  is  exercised.  Congress  may 
require  two  years'  residence,  as  was  required  by 
the  act  of  1790 ;  of  five  years,  as  by  the  act  of 
1795,  and  1802 ;  or  of  fourteen  years,  as  by  the  act 
of  1798 ;  or  of  twenty-one,  as  some  now  demand, 
or  it  may  withhold  naturalization  altogether." 

It  is  true  that  naturalization  confers  not  the 
right  of  voting,  for  it  is  the  privilege  of  States 
to  confer  this  right,  and  varies  as  to  time  in 
different  States,  so  that  each  State  is  sovereign 
in  that  respect.  The  great  object  then  to  which 
the  American  party  strives  to  awaken  the  atten- 
tion of  the  nation,  is  such  an  extension  of  the 
period  of  naturalization  as  will  afford  a  suitable 
time  for  applicants  to  become  thoroughly  Ame- 
ricanized. This  accomplished,  local  and  state 


OF    HON.     H.    A.     WISE.  207 

laws  will  naturally  adapt  themselves  to  the  pro- 
visions of  National  legislation  on  the  subject. 
From  this  impartial  view  of  the  case,  it  will  be 
Been  that  there  is  not  a  single  vestige  left  of  the 
Honorable  gentleman's  mountain  which  was 
intended  to  crush  the  Know-Nothings.  It  be- 
comes perfectly  harmless  and  would  not  discom- 
fort a  mouse  by  its  weight !  All  his  logic  rests 
upon  sand,  and  is  doomed  at  the  slightest  touch 
to  fall  into  a  mass  of  ruins.  His  declamation 
and  his  invectives  evaporate  into  thin  air,  and 
he  is  found  beating  his  head  against  the  wall ! 
Alas,  for  Honorable  Henry,  may  he  do  better 
next  time ! 

One  more  item  in  your  remarks,  my  dear  sir, 
demands  notice,  and  I  will  pause.  "  If  we  let 
foreigners  be  naturalized  and  don't  extend  to 
them  equality  of  privileges,  we  set  up  classes 
and  distinctions  of  persons  wholly  opposed  to 
Republicanism.  We  will,  as  Rome  did,  have 
citizens  who  may  be  scourged.  The  three  alter- 
natives are  presented — our  present  policy,  liberal 
and  just,  and  tolerant,  and  equal ;  or  the  Euro- 
pean policy  of  holding  the  nose  of  native  born 
slaves  to  the  grindstone  of  tyranny  forever ;  or 
odious  distinctions  of  citizenship  tending  to 
social  and  political  aristocracy.  I  am  for  the 
present  Naturalization  laws." 

The  gentleman  is  quite  eloquent  in  his  plea 
for  equality — he  scouts  the  idea  of  setting  up 


208  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

distinctions  among  citizens  !  They  must  be  on 
an  equal  footing,  and  enjoy  like  privileges. 
Now  what  will  the  reader  think  of  this  ebullition 
of  fine  patriotism,  when  told  that  this  former 
champion  in  the  "Whig  ranks,  but  now  the  stan- 
dard-bearer of  the  Democracy,  tolerates  and 
advocates  the  distinctions  which  he  denounces  ! 
JN"ot  the  distinctions  which  exist  between  the 
master  and  the  slave,  but  among  bona  fide  citi- 
zens of  the  Old  Dominion  !  There  is  a  class  of 
men  whose  intellectual  and  moral  character 
place  them  in  the  highest  social  positions,  but 
between  whom  and  the  humblest  citizens  he 
builds  up  the  "odious  distinctions"  which  he 
feigns  to  abhor.  According  to  the  revised  con- 
stitution of  the  State  of  Virginia,  "  no  minister 
of  the  gospel"  is  eligible  to  an  office.  The 
question  here  is  not  whether  they  should  or 
should  not  aspire  to  office,  for  as  to  this,  I  wrould 
agree  with  the  gentleman ;  but  by  what  rule  does 
he  claim  equality  for  all,  and  yet  proscribe  as 
pure  and  intelligent  a  class  of  men  as  his  State 
can  boast  ? 

What  does  this  holy  horror  of  "setting  up 
distinctions"  amount  to,  when  he  imposes  a  dis- 
ability upon  men  not  for  crime,  but  because  they 
are  ministers  of  religion  ?  Say  what  you  will, 
you  throw  a  dark  and  damning  suspicion  over 
their  character  as  men  of  integrity.  Nay,  you 
do  far  worse,  for  while  you  withhold  from  them 


OF    HON.    H.    A.    WISE. 

privileges  which  you  grant  to  gamblers,  drunk- 
ards, libertines,  or  the  most  infamous  men  in 
morals,  you  place  clergymen  in  the  only  other 
class  excluded  from  official  stations,  viz. :  "duel- 
lists, or  persons  who  have  been  convicted  of  great 
crimes,  and  been  the  inmates  of  the  State  prison." 
What  value  shall  we  put  upon  his  patriotism, 
when,  during  the  long  sittings  of  the  convention 
that  altered  the  Constitution  of  Virginia,  of 
which  Mr.  Wise  was  a  leading  member,  he  never 
uttered  a  word  or  moved  a  finger  to  strike  out 
the  odious,  disqualifying  clause,  which  shuts  out 
clergymen  even  from  an  humble  Post-office. 
Here  he  boils  and  foams  with  indignation,  be- 
cause the  American  party  advocates  wholesome 
restrictions  in  regard  to  foreigners,  but  he  has 
no  sympathy — no  patriotism  for  those  at  his 
own  door,  who  are  the  conservators  of  public 
morals — the  instructors  of  the  people,  and  an 
example  to  the  world.  He  would  throw  wide 
open  to  raw  foreigners,  to  intriguing  Jesuits, 
the  door  to  political  preferment,  but  though  he 
would  regard  these,  or  gamblers,  or  any  others 
fit  subjects  for  the  occupancy  of  official  station, 
he  excludes  forever  and  under  all  circumstances, 
ministers,  however  respectable  or  competent; 
though  disabled  by  disease  for  their  public  func- 
tions, he  would  not  allow  them  the  humblest 
office  to  support  a  dependent  family. 
How  will  these  gentlemen  estimate  his  patriot- 
18* 


210  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

ism?  —  how  will  they  esteem  his  clamors  for 
equal  rights  ?  Can  he  hope  for  their  votes  and 
influence  in  the  present  campaign  —  or  would 
he  apply  that  other  part  of  his  argument,  that 
it  would  he  against  the  faith,  hope,  and  charity 
of  the  Gospel  if  they  would  proscribe  him  be- 
cause he  has  proscribed  them  ?  They  will  not 
court  the  contempt  of  all  just  men  by  helping  to 
elevate  this  champion  of  equal  rights  and  of 
Rome,  while  he  oppresses  them  !  And  what,  I 
ask,  have  these  ministers  done  to  deserve  this 
legislation  ?  Why  beset  them  and  the  Church 
with  the  armed  sentinels  of  law  ?  Who,  Mr. 
Wise,  originates  and  carries  on  those  benevolent 
institutions  whose  charities  wake  melodies  in 
the  abodes  of  wretchedness  ?  Who  is  most 
occupied  in  labors  for  the  amelioration  of  human 
suffering,  or  for  the  advancement  of  education 
and  science  ?  Who  has  built  your  colleges  and 
seminaries  of  learning  ?  Who  has  educated 
your  Clays  and  Websters,  your  Casses  and  Bu- 
chanans ?  There  is  scarcely  a  profound  scholar 
or  eminent  statesman  in  the  country  who  has 
not  received  his  intellectual  and  moral  training 
from  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  You  cannot  even 
govern  your  people  after  they  have  stored  your 
mind  with  classic  lore,  and  taught  you  the 
science  of  government,  without  the  ministers  of 
religion  and  the  motives  of  eternity.  May  I  ask 
you  again,  sir,  what  have  the  ministers  of  the 


OF    HON.   H.   A.   WISE.  211 

Gospel  done  to  deserve  this  proscription  at  your 
hands  ?  I  will  answer  for  you  in  the  language 
of  that  just  and  great  man,  Daniel  Webster. 
That  immortal  patriot  and  statesman  gave 
utterance  to  the  following  sentiments  before  the 
Supreme  Court :  "  I  take  it  upon  myself  to  say, 
that  in  no  country  in  the  world,  upon  either 
continent,  can  there  be  found  a  body  of  minis- 
ters of  the  Gospel  who  perform  so  much  service 
to  man  in  such  a  full  spirit  of  self-denial,  under 
so  little  encouragement  of  any  kind,  and  under 
circumstances  always  much  straitened  and  often 
distressed,  as  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  in  the 
United  States  of  all  denominations.  They  form 
no  part  of  any  established  order  of  religion  — 
they  constitute  no  hierarchy — they  enjoy  no  pe- 
culiar privileges  —  in  some  States  they  are  even 
shut  out  from  all  participation  in  the  political 
rights  and  privileges  enjoyed  by  their  fellow- 
citizens —  they  enjoy  no  tithes  —  no  public  pro- 
vision of  any  kind.  And  this  body  of  clergy- 
men has  shown,  to  the  honor  of  their  own 
country,  and  to  the  astonishment  of  the  hierar- 
chies of  the  old  world,  that  it  is  practicable  in 
free  governments  to  raise  up  and  sustain  a 
body  of  clergymen  —  which,  for  devotedness 
to  their  sacred  calling,  for  purity  of  life  and 
character,  for  learning,  intelligence,  piety,  and 
that  wisdom  which  cometh  from  above  —  is  in- 
ferior to  none,  and  superior  to  most  others. 


212  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

I  hope  that  our  learned  men  have  done  something 
for  the  honor  of  our  literature  abroad.  I  hope 
that  the  courts  of  justice  and  members  of  the  bar 
of  this  country  have  done  something  to  elevate  the 
character  of  the  profession  of  the  law.  I  hope  that 
the  discussions  in  Congress  have  done  something  to 
meliorate  the  condition  of  the  human  race — to 
secure  and  extend  the  great  charter  of  human 
rights,  and  to  strengthen  and  advance  the  great 
principles  of  human  liberty.  But  I  contend  that 
no  literary  efforts,  no  adjudications,  no  constitu- 
tional discussions,  nothing  that  has  been  done  or 
said  in  favor  of  the  great  interests  of  universal 
man,  has  done  our  country  more  credit  at  home  or 
abroad  than  the  establishment  of  our  body  of  clergy- 
men, and  the  general  excellence  of  their  character, 
their  piety,  and  learning" 

Such  are  the  men,  iu  the  estimation  of  Daniel 
"Webster,  who  are  proscribed  by  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Wise,  while  he  prates  for  equality,  and  denounces 
"the  setting  up  of  distinctions." 

3.  The  third  proposition  which  Mr.  Wise  dis- 
cusses, is,  that  "  Know-Nothingism  is  against 
the  spirit  of  the  Reformation,  and  against  Pro- 
testantism !"  To  Know  Nothing  is  certainly 
against  the  spirit  of  the  Reformation  and  against 
Protestantism,  for  that  is  a  spirit  of  inquiry  and 
reform  which  cannot  exist  anywhere  without 
imparting  knowledge.  But  unfortunately  for 
Mr.  Wise,  the  American  party  is  the  very  embo- 


OP    HON.   H.   A.   WISE.  213 

diment  of  that  spirit  which  produced  such  a 
wide-spread  and  profound  revolution  in  eccle- 
siastical and  civil  affairs  in  Europe.  If  the  six- 
teenth century  stands  out  in  European  history 
glowing  and  illustrious,  so  will  the  nineteenth 
century  constitute  in  American  history  an  epoch 
alike  memorable  for  a  Reformation  to  re-esta- 
blish religious  freedom  and  American  nationality. 
If  the  "  solitary  monk  that  shook  the  world"  by 
the  exertion  of  his  giant  intellect,  "toppled 
down  the  fall-grown  intolerable  abuses  of  cen- 
turies —  heaved  the  ground  under  the  feet  of  a 
bigoted  faith  and  slavish  obedience  —  and  the 
roaring  and  dashing  of  opinions  loosened  from 
their  accustomed  hold  might  be  heard  like  the 
noise  of  an  angry  sea,"  those  who  revere  the 
principles  of  the  Reformer  now  contend  in  the 
new  party  for  free  Bibles,  for  free  consciences, 
and  free  hearts  !  With  a  few  slight  changes, 
the  learned  quotations  and  able  argument  of  the 
gentleman  may  become  most  effective  weapons 
for  those  whom  they  were  intended  to  destroy. 
Hear  him :  "  There  was  a  mighty  fermentation  ; 
the  waters  were  out ;  public  opinion  was  in  a 
state  of  projection ;  liberty  was  offered  to  all  to 
think  and  speak  the  truth ;  men's  brains  were 
busy,  their  spirits  stirring,  their  hearts  full,  and 
their  hands  not  idle."  He  has  made  this  lan- 
guage his  own,  and  by  giving  utterance  to  it, 
could  not  more  truthfully  or  graphically  describe 


214 

the  effects  now  visible  as  the  legitimate  offspring 
of  the  American  party.  Let  us  see.  Has  it  not 
produced  a  "  mighty  fermentation  ?"  Are  not 
"  the  waters  out  ?"  Yes,  the  whole  country  is  in 
a  state  of  fermentation,  and  the  lees  will  soon 
go  to  the  bottom ;  yes,  the  waters  (by  which  I 
suppose  he  means  the  people,)  are  out — they 
have  burst  their  channels,  and  rushing  beyond 
their  banks,  are  sweeping  away  many  cherished 
hopes  with  their  authors,  and  will  soon  bear 
them  beyond  the  knowledge  of  the  country; 
yes,  sir,  the  waters  are  out,  and  you  would  better 
have  a  care  to  your  "  understandings."  Let  us 
see !  Is  not  "  public  opinion  in  a  state  of  pro- 
jection?" Yes,  sir;  for  it  is  projecting  many 
of  the  old  politicians  into  those  regions  of  for- 
getfulness  which  lie  about  the  Saline  River. 
Yes,  sir ;  yes,  sir ;  public  opinion  is  in  "  a  state 
of  projection,"  and  you  had  better  see  to  it,  for 
it  will  most  probably  project  another  into  that 
honorable  chair,  towards  which  you  are  now 
laboriously  toiling.  Is  not  "  liberty  held  out  to 
all  to  think  and  speak  the  truth?"  Yes,  sir; 
and  I  fear  will  be  detrimental  to  your  hopes. 
Let  us  see  again.  Are  not  "  men's  brains  busy 
and  their  spirits  stirring?"  Yes,  sir;  I  believe 
it  all  —  that  your  brain  is  busy,  and  that  the 
Know-Nothings  have  stirred  your  spirit  to  its 
lowest  depths,  for  the  cloudiness  of  its  outflows 
witnesseth  of  this.  Are  not  "  their  hearts  full, 


OP    HON.   H.   A.   WISE.  215 

and  their  hands  not  idle?"  Yes,  sir;  yes,  sir; 
the  new  party  has  assuredly  produced  a  great 
fermentation  in  Mr.  Wise's  mind  and  in  his 
party.  It  has  certainly  quickened  your  brain, 
and  stirred  your  spirit.  Yes,  sir ;  I  believe  you  ; 
"your  heart  is  full,"  and  may  be  yet  fuller. 
And  your  "  hands  not  idle."  I  grant  all.  But 
now  I  hold  the  honorable  gentleman  to  his 
argument,  and  to  the  rule  upon  which  it  is 
based ;  and  he  must,  nolens  volens,  recognise  in 
the  American  party  the  very  spirit  he  eulogizes 
so  highly. 

Hear  him  again :  "  Their  eyes  were  open  to 
expect  the  greatest  things,  and  their  ears  burn 
with  curiosity  and  zeal  to  know  the  truth,  that 
the  truth  might  make  them  free.  The  death- 
blow which  had  been  struck  at  scarlet  vice  and 
bloated  hypocrisy,  loosened  tongues  and  made 
the  talismans  and  love-tokens  of  Popish  super- 
stitions with  which  she  had  beguiled  her  follow- 
ers, and  committed  abominations  with  the  peo- 
ple, fall  harmless  from  their  necks."  It  would 
not  be  surprising  if  you  would  yet  "  sleep  with 
the  Know-Nothings,"  for  you  so  much  resemble 
them  in  your  sentiments ;  and  seeing  that  the 
effects  of  the  Eeformation  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury have  so  enraptured  your  mind,  and  enlisted 
the  sympathies  of  your  great  heart ;  for,  without 
controversy,  the  effects  which  you  describe  for 
that  period  are  the  very  counterpart  to  those 


216  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

now  abroad  in  society,  and  produced  by  this 
new  order.  Need  I  particularize  ?  Let  us  see. 
Are  not  "the  eyes  of  the  people  opening?" 
Yes,  and  with  amazement  too,  to  behold  the 
abominations  of  Rome,  and  the  corruptions  of 
political  parties.  Do  not  "their  ears  burn,"  to 
listen  to  the  unheard-of  triumphs  of  the  "Know 
Nothings  ?"  Is  not  "  the  blow  which  they  have 
inflicted  upon  scarlet  vice,"  &c.,  "and  Popish 
superstitions,"  sending  the  tremors  of  death 
through  that  gigantic  mother  of  corruption  ? 
Does  not  "her  yoke,"  which  she  had  placed 
upon  the  neck  of  this  nation,  fall  harmless  at 
her  feet  ?  How  then,  excellent  sir,  can  you  com- 
mend the  effect  which  the  spirit  of  the  Refor- 
mation produced,  and  reprobate  the  identical 
effects  of  the  American  party  ?  Do  we  not,  ac- 
cording to  Bacon,  infer  the  nature  of  the  cause 
from  its  phenomena  ?  And  if  you  object  not  to 
this  philosophy,  will  not  consistency  constrain 
you  to  rejoice  in  the  presence  of  the  same  spirit, 
though  veiled  by  a  different  exterior?  The 
name  under  which  a  principle  is  promulgated 
cannot  vitiate  the  principle  itself —  nor  does  the 
image  on  the  coin  change  its  current  value. 

But  hear  once  more  this  eloquent  but  unin- 
tentional defender  of  the  "Know-Nothings." 
Speaking  of  the  Reformation,  he  says:  "The 
translation  of  the  Bible  was  the  chief  engine  in 
the  great  work.  It  threw  open  the  rich  trea- 


OF    HON.    H.    A.    WISE.  217 

sures  of  religion  and  morality,  which  had  been 
locked  up  as  in  a  shrine.  It  revealed  the  visions 
of  the  Prophets,  and  conveyed  the  lessons  of 
inspired  teachers  to  the  meanest  of  the  people. 
It  gave  them  a  common  interest  in  a  common 
cause.  Their  hearts  burnt  within  them  as  they 
read.  It  gave  a  mind  to  the  people,  by  giving 
them  common  subjects  of  thought  and  feeling; 
it  cemented  their  union  of  character  and  senti- 
ment." Thank  you,  sir,  for  that.  Could  there 
be  a  better  exposition  of  the  spirit  and  tendency 
of  the  American  party.  The  honorable  gentle- 
man had  doubtless  forgotten,  when  he  penned 
the  above  paragraph,  that  the  Popish  war  waged 
against  the  Bible,  and  copies  of  it  having  been 
burned  by  some  priests,  and  their  efforts  to  banish 
it  from  the  public  schools,  where  "the  meanest  of 
the  people"  might  read  it,  were  among  the  first  and 
most  powerful  causes  which  called  the  new  party 
into  existence.  It  was  the  apprehended  danger 
that  the  Bible  might,  in  this  free  land,  be  a  second 
time  sealed,  ay  and  chained  too,  that  caused 
the  American  people  to  arise  to  defend  their 
rights,  and  wither  the  hand  that  would  dare  to 
do  this  iniquity.  The  sentiment  of  not  only 
the  people,  but  also  of  the  children  of  this 
nation,  has  been  rung  through  the  wide  realm 
of  this  Union — "We  won't  give  up  the  Bible, 
God's  holy  book  of  truth."  Yes,  sir,  the  party 
which  you  denounce  is  laboring  to  restore  the 
19 


218  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

Bible  to  its  rightful  position  in  the  public  school ! 
They  believe  with  you,  sir,  "  that  it  contains  the 
richest  treasures  of  religion  and  morality;"  that 
it  gives  "them  a  common  interest  in  a  common 
cause ;"  that  it  "  gives  a  mind  to  the  people,  by 
giving  them  common  subjects  of  thought  and 
feeling;"  that  it  "cements  their  union  of  cha- 
racter and  sentiment."  Here,  then,  over  the 
Bible  we  shake  hands  with  you,  and  thank  you 
for  your  unintentional  service  which  you  have 
rendered  to  the  party  you  meant  to  proscribe. 

It  is  somewhat  singular  that  the  gentleman, 
in  all  his  declamation  against  what  he  conceives 
to  be  the  prescriptive  attributes  of  the  American 
party,  discovers  nothing  prescriptive  in  his  own 
labored  effort.  He  proscribes  with  a  merciless 
tyranny  this  association,  which  numbers  many 
of  the  most  respectable  in  the  land ;  he  would 
not  allow  them  -to  breathe  a  moment,  if  he 
possibly  could  stop  their  breath.  We  are  more 
generous  towards  Mr.  Wise  and  his  party,  and 
foreigners  and  their  allies — let  them  live  and 
prosper,  if  they  can ;  we  will  proscribe  none,  but 
hold  inviolable  in  all,  the  glorious  legacy  of  "life, 
liberty,  and  pursuit  of  happiness."  And  now 
we  reach  a  point  in  the  argumentation  of  this 
^extraordinary  letter  that  sounds  very  pious. 

4.  "  It  (i.  e.,  the  American  party)  is  opposed 
not  only  to  the  Reformation,  but  to  the  faith, 
hope,  and  charity  of  the  Gospel."  Have  you 


OP    HON.    H.    A.    WISE.  219 

ever  noticed  with  what  avidity  politicians  seize 
upon  some  Scripture  argument  to  clinch  their 
conclusions  ?  They  flare  up  with  a  fierce  spirit 
and  hot  indignation  to  devour  some  black-coat 
who  presumes  to  touch  ever  so  tenderly  on  some 
political  measure  in  his  pulpit  discussions,  while 
they  never  object  to  an  approval  of  their  course, 
or  of  a  measure  they  cherish,  though  the  appro- 
bation comes  from  those  "who  desecrate  the 
high  designs  of  the  sacred  desk  by  politics;" 
neither  do  they  fail  to  avail  themselves  of  such 
arguments  as  the  Gospel  may  seem  to  furnish. 
Mr.  Wise  appears  to  have  a  special  abhorrence  for 
Protestant  priestcraft,  and  cannot  acknowledge 
the  right  of  the  ministers  of  religion  to  think 
or  speak  on  political  subjects ;  he  would,  there- 
fore, have  acted  consistently  with  the  doctrine — 
"  Every  man  to  his  own  sphere,"  had  he  busied 
himself  outside  the  pale  of  the  Gospel,  and  not 
attempted  to  render  the  ecclesiastical  and  theo- 
logical fields  tributary  to  his  argument.  But  I 
object  not  to  the  latitude  which  he  has  given 
himself;  for  surely  that  is  a  desperate  cause 
which  requires  its  advocate  to  ransack  earth, 
heaven,  and  hell  in  his  attempts  to  sustain  it. 
Besides,  the  friends  of  the  American  party  are, 
not  prescriptive,  but  stand  up  for  equal  rights, 
and  maintain  that  all  may  think  or  speak  on 
any  or  all  subjects  which  challenge  investiga- 
tion ;  so  that  I  may  not,  and  will  not,  complain 


220  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

when  Mr.  "Wise  turns  preacher.  I  can  the  more 
readily  grant  him  a  free  ahsolution  for  this  sin, 
if  it  be  so  regarded,  (I  do  not,)  because  his 
declamation  requires  no  reply,  since  he  has 
failed  to  make  out  his  case.  He  has  only  said 
that  the  "Know-Nothings"  are  in  conflict  with 
the  faith,  hope,  and  charity  of  the  Gospel — in 
what  particulars,  he  has  left  the  reader's  imagi- 
nation to  determine.  But,  although  he  has 
failed  to  exhibit  the  points  of  collision  between 
the  principles  of  this  party  and  the  sublime 
teachings  of  the  Gospel,  it  could  be  readily 
shown,  were  it  our  business  to  prove  this,  that 
the  principles  of  the  party  are  eminently  con- 
sistent with  the  exalted  sentiments  of  the  word 
of  God.  But  I  weary  of  this  examination  of 
this  singular  epistle ;  for  it  is  fatiguing  to  follow 
him  through  the  labyrinths  which  his  excited 
fancy  has  conjured  up ;  for  we  must  remember 
that  his  "brain  was  busy,"  his  "spirit  stirred," 
and  his  heart  full.  I  hasten,  therefore,  to  notice 
briefly  his  concluding  position.' 

5.  His  apprehensions  expressed  under  this 
head,  that  "it  would  lead  to  a  proscription 
among  Protestants,  and  finally  lead  to  civil 
war,"  are  as  harmless  as  moonshine,  and  just 
as  cooling.  Had  I  not  had  occasion  to  tell  him 
at  every  step  of  our  progress  in  this  examination, 
that  the  American  party  does  not  proscribe,  but 
is  pledged  to  prevent  proscription,  I  would  show 


OP    HON.    H.    A.    WISE.  221 

that  all  the  tendencies  of  this  organization  are 
even  now  defeating  the  designs  of  Jesuits  to 
bring  about  a  union  of  Church  and  State.  It 
is  unmanly  to  ascribe  principles  and  intentions 
to  an  organization  which  it  abhors,  and  against 
which  all  its  energies  are  directed  in  laborious 
toil. 

Finally,  he  characterizes  the  "Know-No- 
things" as  "a  secret  oligarchy,  beyond  the 
reach  of  popular  and  public  scrutiny."  The 
application  of  the  term  would  have  been  far 
more  fortunate  had  it  been  made  to  the  caucus 
of  the  old  parties,  (which  Mr.  Wise  says  are 
necessary,)  for  there  the  few  do  control  all 
things  pertaining  to  their  organizations ;  but 
there  could  not  be  a  greater  misnomer  than 
when  applied  to  the  American  party.  An  oli- 
garchy, indeed  !  A  few  individuals  combined 
for  the  purpose  of  governing  the  nation,  when 
this  "oligarchy"  is  so  numerous  as  to  fill  the 
land!  Why,  if  they  are  the  few  deluded  fa- 
natics, as  Mr.  Wise  asserts,  make  such  tremen- 
dous efforts  to  subvert  their  organization  ?  The 
whole  letter  is  a  singular  conglomeration  of 
things  as  distinct,  and  as  foreign  to  each  other, 
as  light  is  to  darkness.  Yet,  after  describing 
this  party  as  an  "oligarchy,"  he  continues — 
"  Nobody  knows  who  they  are,  where  they  are, 
or  how  many  of  them  there  are.  They  exist 
19* 


222  REPLY    TO    THE    LETTER 

somewhere  in  the  dark ;  their  blows  cannot  be 
guarded  against."  How,  in  the  midst  of  this 
ignorance  which  he  confesses,  can  he  pronounce 
upon  their  numbers  and  characters  ?  What  re- 
liance can  be  placed  upon  the  statements  he 
made  concerning  their  designs,  when,  according 
to  his  own  showing,  he  knows  nothing  about 
them.  Had  he  first  informed  himself  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  organization,  its  principles  and 
objects,  he  would  not  have  wasted  so  much 
argument  and  so  many  invectives,  that  have  as 
little  application  to  the  party  as  they  have  to  the 
people  of  China. 

The  remainder  of  this  letter  is  made  up  of 
materials  similar  to  those  already  subjected  to 
an  examination.  It  is  proscription  !  proscrip- 
tion ! !  proscription  ! ! !  destitute  of  force,  be- 
cause it  does  .  not,  and  cannot,  apply  to  the 
American  party.  I  will  do  him  the  justice  to 
say,  that  it  would  have  been  a  highly  respect- 
able document  in  its  composition,  if  it  could 
only  have  rested  upon  sound  premises;  but 
these  being  destitute  of  the  elements  of  truth, 
his  conclusions  must  necessarily  wear  the  same 
complexion.  While  there  are  many  points  of 
character  in  Mr.  Wise  which  I  admire,  I  see  the 
predominant  and,  as  I  think,  the  unfortunate 
characteristic  of  the  man,  through  all  this  pro- 
duction— a  fiery  and  impulsive  spirit,  scorning 


OF    HON.    H.    A.    WISE.  223 

the  checks  of  reason  and  the  suggestions  of  the 
understanding,  and,  with  a  dare-devil  purpose, 
rushing  madly  forward,  whether  he  drives  others 
or  himself  over  the  yawning  precipice ;  or  like 
the  infatuated  pilot,  who  shivers  his  vessel  upon 
the  UNSEEN  AND  UNKNOWN  ROCK,  and  whose  pri- 
vilege it  is  not,  to  perish  alone  ! 


THE    END. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


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